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# NFL's Thanksgiving Tradition

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/B9t9IfgY.m3u8" -->
## Video: NFL's Thanksgiving Tradition

[Watch (HLS stream): NFL's Thanksgiving Tradition](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/B9t9IfgY.m3u8) (4:50)

![NFL's Thanksgiving Tradition](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/B9t9IfgY/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2018-11-14. A look at the record-breaking moments, nail-biting performances, and epic laughs over the years on Thanksgiving Day._


---

Jul 28, 2023 12:50 AM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

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### NFL's Cam Newton Slammed for Laughing at a Female Reporter

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### Thanksgiving Dinner By The Numbers

[NFL's Switch From Nonprofit Status Looks to Benefit...the NFL](/video/m4GdDhP2/)

### NFL's Switch From Nonprofit Status Looks to Benefit...the NFL

---


## Transcript

[ MUSIC ] For many, NFL football and Thanksgiving are synonymous, offering fans a chance to rally behind staple ; performances by the Lions and the cowboys alongside family and friends. Each November, the NFL holds three Thanksgiving games providing fans a Trio of reasons to be thankful. In years past the games have guaranteed record breaking moments like in 1945 when the Rams Jim Benton became the first professional football player to eclipse 300 receiving yards in a 28 to 21 victory over the lions. The record still remains as only one of four 300 yard receiving games in the league's history.

A more recent memory in 2004 when Peyton Manning shredded alliance with six touch down passes for the Colts all but for the fourth quarter. Only Bob Griese has ever thrown as many touch downs during a thanksgiving game. Match- ups have also offered nail biting performances that served to be as satisfying as any feast. Like in 2010, when Jets wide receiver, Brad Smith, held the team's lead over the Bengals, and returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown, despite losing his left shoe on the 50 yard line. Or when the Patriots trailed the Lions by 11 points in the second quarter of 2010's game, before Tom Brady threw 3 touchdown passes in the span of 13 minutes and 30 seconds.

Brady completed 21 of 27 passes for 341 yards with no interceptions in that game, earning him a perfect QB rating of 158. 3 for the second time in his career. While the time honored Thanksgiving games provide great fodder, they also can provide some epic laughs. In 2012, New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez offered up a funny moment so great, football fans might never forget it. That year, the Jets quarterback had no one to hand the ball to on a botched play, so he tried to run it himself. When he reached his offensive line, he collided with his teammate's backside and fumbled the ball Officially coining the moment as the **** fumble.

To add insult to injury, Sanchez's drop led Patriot's safety Steve Gregory to grab the ball and score a touchdown. With this year's matchup's all featuring division rivalry games, what should we expect for the Thanksgiving trifecta? SI editor Gary Gramling is here to discuss. All right, Gary, thanks so much for joining us. Okay, let's talk about this year's matchups. What games are you most looking forward to? Yeah, three really good games this year. All division games, all rivalries, all have playoff implications. For me though, it's gonna be Washington, Dallas. NFC East Division is wide open right now.

Washington leads it. They've already beaten the Cowboys once this year. Dallas is a little bit desperate though. They traded a first round pick for a wide receiver, Amari Cooper. They are trying to make a run at the Super Bowl. They have to win this game if they're gonna make the playoffs. Now when you think of Thanksgiving football, what's a memorable game that comes to mind? For me it was 25 years ago, in 1993, it was the Cowboys and the Dolphins. It was a weird game anyway because it was snow and icing Dallas which obviously you don't see very often. It was a close game, Cowboys were winning late, Dolphins windup for a potential game wining few goals, the Cowboys Cowboys blocked it.

Now, if the Cowboys left the field, the game would be over, Cowboys win. What happened with this guy, Leon Lett, he was a great player, but he was sort of famous for making boneheaded mistakes, he ran up and tried to sorta slide onto the ball and recover it. That made it a live ball. He didn't recover it, the Dolphins did. That gave the Dolphins another chance to go out and kick a field goal, which they did, Dolphins won. It was the weirdest And probably the wildest finish I've ever seen to a football game. My god, so kind of a horrible memeorable game, but still memorable. Horrible for him, fun for me.

So speaking of horrible momemnts, what's a tradiiton you'd like to end? I really like the fact that the Detroit Lions host a game every year. I think that's great. It's great for the city. It's great for the franchise. I just wish they were better one of these years. [ LAUGH ]. It seems like every year we watch the early Thanksgiving game and it's, well, who's going to beat up on the Lions this year? This year, it'll be The Bears. The Bears have already beaten them pretty handedly in their first meeting this year. They'll probably beat them again. It would be nice to see The Lions actually have a good team one of these years, and be sort of a premier team maybe, maybe get a big win.

In your opinion, who's the player to watch this year? For me it's Drew Brees in the night game. Drew Brees, he holds all these amazing records. He's a future hall of famer, he's won a Super Bowl. He has never won an MVP award. Which is pretty shocking. He is very much in the running this year, the voters are human. When you have a big game in a primetime spot that everyone's watching, that can make a big difference. I think if Brees has a big game against the Falcons on Thursday night, I think that could push him over the edge for his first MVP Award. All right, well we'll see how it all plays out Thanksgiving Day.

Gary, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me.

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