Timeless Roar: Detroit Lions a Thanksgiving tradition since 1934

The Detroit Lions have been a Thanksgiving tradition since their first holiday game in 1934, with the only break coming during World War II, from 1939 to 1944, when the NFL paused Thanksgiving games. Ever since, Detroit has almost always hosted the early game, turning Ford Field/ Silverdome and its predecessors into as much a part of Thanksgiving as turkey, stuffing, and that one relative who swears the Lions are finally going to the Super Bowl this year.​

It started as a marketing idea when owner George A Richards moved the old Portsmouth Spartans to Detroit, rebranded them as the Lions, and scheduled a Thanksgiving showdown with the defending champion Chicago Bears in 1934 to boost attendance and get a national radio audience. The Lions lost 19 to 16 that day, but packed in about 26,000 fans, and the success locked in the tradition that still drags America from the dinner table to the couch every November.​

Over the decades, the results have been mixed, with Detroit’s all-time Thanksgiving record sitting below 500 despite playing more games on the holiday than any other team, a mark listed around the high thirties in wins with more losses than victories. There have been iconic moments sprinkled among the heartbreak, from strange coin-flip drama to last-second field goals that let Lions fans enjoy dessert in peace instead of silently stabbing their mashed potatoes.​

This year the script writes itself, the Lions hosting the Packers at home in a game everyone is calling a must win, with playoff positioning and bragging rights sitting right next to the cranberry sauce. If Detroit takes care of business, fans can say the Lions finally gave them something better than leftovers, a big divisional win to go with the pumpkin pie, and if not, well, there is always next Thanksgiving, because this tradition is not going anywhere.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Timeless Roar: Detroit Lions a Thanksgiving tradition since 1934