(Note: This was originally posted last Saturday, but it seemed more appropriate to go up today...Happy Thanksgiving!)
Football on Thanksgiving in an American tradition, but not having the New England Patriots as one of the teams that annually host a game on Thanksgiving is a wrong that the NFL needs to make right. Clearly no other region in the country is as associated with the holiday as New England, the hosts of the first one ever. And now New England brings to the table the most successful NFL franchise of the 21st Century on top of their tradition with the holiday itself. The are such a logical choice to host a game that it's almost mindblowing they don't. As usual, this year the Lions and Cowboys will both be hosting Thanksgiving Day games. The NFL has added a 3rd game to the schedule on Thanksgiving, recently, but there is not a consistent third host (last year it was Atlanta, this year it’s Philadelphia). I obviously have no problem with the Lions being a Turkey Day host…they were the first ones to do it all the way back in 1934 and it’s now a tradition that should not be broken. Dallas has been hosting long enough (since 1966) for that to be the case (to a lesser extent) with them as well. But if the NFL is going to have a third Thanksgiving Day game, why not add the Pats as host #3? They have tradition with the holiday, they are a great franchise, and they would give the day's schedule a little AFC flavor, which it currently lacks. The Lions tradition began when the Pats didn’t even exist and the Cowboys started when the Pats were just a 6-year old AFL franchise….but now it’s time to fix this long-overdue oversight and add the New England Patriots as the host of the third game on the NFL’s annual Thanksgiving Day slate.
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6 comments:
This has bothered me for as long as I can remember, but the Pats were bad for so long it was tough to argue that they should be shown to the nation every year. Obviously that is no longer the case, and the Lions have proven that being good doesn't have anything to do with deserving being part of a tradition...it's time that the Pats Turkey Day tradition began.
A Pats game on Turkey day would be awesome. It would give me a game to care about when i've got a good Turkey/beer buzz.
I would hope it would be the first game of the day or else there is a good chance I will nap through it.
my dad thinks the pats had a chance to do this (not sure if that is based on anything real) and that they didnt want to b/c of the high school football tradition in mass on thanksgiving
The first 2 games today were terrible blowouts, and right now the 3rd game is turing out to be a blowout. Boring stuff today so far. Even Texas A&M vs. Texas will likely be a blowout, UT is already up 14-0 and A&M doesnt look like there gonna be able to do to much.
I think until the Lions can put a few winning seasons together they should be banned from Turkey day games..The last time they won a Thanksgiving Day game was in 2003, they beat the Packers 22-14, it was a real exciting game if you like watching the kicker Jason Hanson hit 5 FGs.
Oh yeah and the Pats have played on Thanksgiving.
Detroit Lions 12
New England Patriots 20
Thanksgiving 2002
Detroit Lions 34
New England Patriots 9
Thanksgiving 2000
The other Pats Turkey Day game was a 1984 loss to the Cowboys 20-17. In 1946 the Boston Yanks beat the Lions 34-10. Thats it for Boston on Thanksgiving Day games.
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