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107-688: In 2001, the NFL began branding the games as the Thanksgiving Classic . In 2022, the league changed the branding to the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration in honor of former head coach and broadcaster John Madden , who died in December 2021. The concept of American football games being played on Thanksgiving Day dates back to 1876, shortly after the game had been invented, as it was a day that most people had off from work. In that year,

214-459: A bronze -colored statue of a nondescript turkey holding a football. In 2011, the trophies were discarded altogether and replaced by a commemorative plaque . Unlike the aforementioned "Turkey Leg Award", the Galloping Gobbler was normally awarded to only one player annually, however in 2016, co-winners were honored. For 2017, the Galloping Gobbler was permanently retired, and replaced with

321-425: A dedicated host team or any conference tie-in, meaning the league can place any game into the time slot. Since NBC took over the prime time game in 2012, divisional matchups have been normally scheduled, with the exceptions being in 2016, 2021, 2022 and 2024. In 2014, a series of changes to the broadcast contracts freed CBS from its obligation to carry an AFC team, and by 2018, the last vestiges of conference ties to

428-546: A desire to remove any obligations from his schedule. KCBS named him "Senior Investigative At-Large Correspondent", indicating that he may occasionally call in again. Madden also aired sports commentaries in syndication on the Westwood One radio network in the United States. Madden's lively and flamboyant delivery won him critical acclaim and fourteen Sports Emmy Awards for standing Sports Event Analyst. His announcing style

535-514: A group of players who Madden thought represented football and played the game the way he thought it should be played. Madden continued to pick the All-Madden team through the 2001 season when he left to move to ABC and Monday Night Football . Madden added his "Hall of Fame" for his favorite players, he created a special 10th Anniversary All-Madden team in 1994, an All-Madden Super Bowl Team in 1997, and an All-Time All-Madden team in 2000. All Madden

642-439: A luxury train. After he almost joined ABC, Madden and Summerall, along with Producer Bob Stenner and Director Sandy Grossman -- known as the football broadcasting "A Team" -- helped establish Fox's NFL coverage , Madden and that group gave Fox credibility to broadcast what Rupert Murdoch called "the crown jewel of all sports programming in the world". Madden's contract paid him more annually than any NFL player. However, toward

749-535: A national, postgame call-in show called NFL Live . NFL Live would officially become the name of the pregame show for the NFL on NBC television program. As the lead broadcast team, Criqui and Trumpy were responsible for calling Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl. They performed these duties in tandem with their assignments on television; at the time Trumpy served as Criqui's analyst on Sunday afternoons. NBC Radio

856-560: A prime exposure opportunity second only to the Super Bowl halftime show . It has remained a tradition for the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions to host the afternoon games dating several decades. Other teams eventually expressed interest in hosting Thanksgiving Day games. Lamar Hunt , the former owner of the Chiefs (who had hosted Thanksgiving Day games from 1967 to 1969 as an AFL team prior to

963-569: A record he compiled in only ten full seasons of coaching at the age of 42. Madden is still the coach with the most wins in Raiders history. Madden never had a losing season as a head coach. His overall winning percentage, including playoff games, ranks second in league history behind Guy Chamberlin and is the highest among those who coached 100 games. Madden achieved his record during a period that included head coaches Tom Landry , Don Shula , Chuck Noll , and Bud Grant , who are generally regarded as

1070-600: A regulation game professionally. Madden recounted how he became involved with coaching: "I got hurt in my rookie year with the Philadelphia Eagles — a knee injury — and I couldn't play. While I was rehabbing , Norm Van Brocklin would be watching films and would explain what was happening. I ended up with a degree in teaching and my love for football meshed with teaching." In 1960, he became an assistant coach at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California . He

1177-683: A series of ugly Cardinals losses in the three-game stretch, and opposition from the Kirkwood–Webster Groves Turkey Day Game (a local high school football contest) led to Dallas resuming regular hosting duties in 1978. With their resumption as a regular NFL Thanksgiving Day venue, the Cowboys requested and received an agreement guaranteeing the Cowboys a spot on Thanksgiving Day indefinitely. Since 1978, Thanksgiving games have been hosted in Detroit and Dallas every year, with Detroit in

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1284-673: A similar appearance in the video for Paul Simon 's 1972 single " Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard ", in which he attempts to teach football fundamentals to a group of kids playing a pickup game. To minimize travel to studios, Madden built Goal Line Productions in Pleasanton, California . From 1988 on, Madden lent his name, voice and creative input to the John Madden Football series of football video games, later called Madden NFL , published by EA Sports / Electronic Arts . Entries in

1391-399: A small silver figurine of a cartoonish turkey wearing a football helmet striking a Heisman-like pose. Much like Cleatus and Digger , the original Galloping Gobbler trophy reflected Fox's irreverent mascots, and went through several iterations. Unimpressed by its tackiness, Emmitt Smith famously threw the 2002 award into a trash can. In 2007, the kitschy statuette was replaced with

1498-534: A special encore presentation two days later on December 30. Various streaming platforms also made the documentary available following the encore broadcast due to popular demand. Madden appeared in a variety of radio and television commercials including Ace Hardware , Outback Steakhouse (the corporate sponsor of the Madden Cruiser ), Verizon Wireless , Rent-A-Center , Miller Lite , Toyota , Sirius Satellite Radio , and "Tough Actin" Tinactin . In particular,

1605-467: A turkey or turducken to the winning team. He would also award a turkey drumstick to players of the winning team following the Thanksgiving Day game, often bringing out a "nuclear turkey" with as many as eight drumsticks on it for the occasion. The drumsticks served as an odd take on the "player of the game" award. Madden stopped announcing the Thanksgiving Day games after he moved to ABC in 2002, but

1712-666: The Madden NFL video game series, which became the best-selling American football video game franchise. Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. John Earl Madden was born in Austin, Minnesota , on April 10, 1936, the son of Earl Russell Madden (1905–1961) and Mary (née Flaherty) Madden (1917–2011). His father, an auto mechanic , moved the Madden family to Daly City, California , located south of San Francisco, when John

1819-537: The 2006 season , making him the first sportscaster to have worked for all of the "Big Four" U.S. broadcast television networks. On October 13, 2008, NBC announced that Madden would not be traveling to the October 19 Sunday Night Football Seattle Seahawks – Tampa Bay Buccaneers game in Tampa, Florida , marking the end of Madden's 476-weekend streak of consecutive broadcast appearances. Madden, who traveled by bus, decided to take

1926-745: The AFL of 1936 hosted one in its first season, which featured the Cleveland Rams , a future NFL team, and the 1940–41 incarnation of the American Football League played two games in 1940 on the earlier "Franksgiving" date. In 1951, the Packers began a thirteen-season run as the perpetual opponent to the Lions each year through 1963. In 1966, the Dallas Cowboys , who had been founded six years earlier, adopted

2033-533: The CBS Radio Network 's package. On March 6, 1985, NBC Radio and the National Football League entered into a two-year agreement granting NBC the radio rights to a 37-game package in each of the 1985 – 1986 seasons . The package included 27 regular season games and 10 postseason games. NBC Radio, as early as 1934, had carried a handful of NFL games; it was particularly associated with carrying

2140-709: The Detroit Lions ' annual Thanksgiving contests nationwide since their inception, helping to establish the Lions as a permanent part of the Thanksgiving tradition. On April 5, 1961, NBC was awarded a two-year contract for radio and television rights to the NFL Championship Game for US$ 615,000 annually, $ 300,000 of which was to go directly into the NFL Player Benefit Plan. From the 1966 – 1976 seasons , NBC Radio alternated with CBS Radio in coverage of

2247-562: The NBC television network resumed their National Football League coverage under the NBC Sunday Night Football umbrella. As part of the relaunch of their coverage, NBC became a co-producer of Westwood One's radio pregame/highlight show NFL Sunday , adding the network's name to the coverage and turning it into an abbreviated radio version of Football Night in America . Al Trautwig hosted

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2354-590: The Special Olympics and diabetes research, Madden began funding six scholarships to his alma mater, Cal Poly , for students graduating from various East Bay high schools, starting in September 2021. NFL on NBC Radio From 1985 – 1986 , the NBC Radio Network was the official, national radio provider for National Football League games. The program succeeded (and was itself, ultimately succeeded by)

2461-628: The Steelers in the AFC Championship game . The Steelers would once more end the Raiders' season one game short of the Super Bowl in the 1975 AFC Championship game. In 1976, the Raiders went 13–1 in the regular season and escaped the first round of the playoffs with a dramatic and controversial 24–21 victory over the New England Patriots . In their third straight battle with the Steelers in

2568-643: The World Series taking place roughly around the same time). Madden called his final game on February 1, 2009, for Super Bowl XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers . Madden announced his official retirement from the broadcasting booth on April 16, 2009. He was succeeded by Collinsworth. Madden got his start in broadcasting calling in to longtime San Francisco radio personality "The Emperor" Gene Nelson's show on station KYA in

2675-617: The college football teams at Yale and Princeton began an annual tradition of playing each other on Thanksgiving Day. The University of Michigan also made it a tradition to play annual Thanksgiving games, holding 19 such games from 1885 to 1905. The Thanksgiving Day games between Michigan and the Chicago Maroons in the 1890s have been cited as "The Beginning of Thanksgiving Day Football." In some areas, most commonly in New England , high-school teams play on Thanksgiving, usually to wrap-up

2782-652: The "AFC package" and televised inter-conference games in which the visiting team is from the AFC ( NBC from 1970 to 1997, and CBS since 1998) and the network with the "NFC package" (CBS from 1970 to 1993, and Fox since 1994). In 2006 , the third game in primetime originally aired on the NFL Network . In 2012 , NBC took over broadcasting the primetime game, and ever since all three broadcast networks with Sunday NFL rights carry one Thanksgiving Day game apiece. The first two games continue to be split between CBS and Fox, with CBS getting

2889-411: The "All-Iron Award", which is, suitably enough, a small silver iron , a reference to Phil Simms ' All-Iron team for toughness. The All-Iron winner also received a skillet of blackberry cobbler made by Simms' mother. Through 2006, the trophy was only awarded to one player annually. Occasionally, it was issued as a "group award". In 2008, Simms stated it was "too close to call" and named four players to

2996-405: The "Game Ball", a stylish, ornate football-shaped trophy, reminiscent of the tradition where game-used balls are typically awarded to players of the game. For 2019 and 2020 (coinciding with Fox's new partnership with WWE SmackDown ), the "Game Ball" was replaced by a WWE Championship Belt. The "Game Ball" returned in 2021. When the NFL returned to CBS in 1998 , they introduced their own award,

3103-435: The 12:30 p.m. ( EST ) Detroit "early" game, and Fox getting the 4:30 p.m. Dallas "late" game in even-numbered years, and Fox getting the "early" game and CBS the "late" game in odd-numbered years. In 2014, a system known as "cross-flex" was introduced, in which the two networks bound by conference restrictions, CBS and Fox, could carry games from the other conference as part of their Sunday afternoon package, including

3210-408: The 1957 season, Madden caught a pass from future fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, then-teammate and Cal Poly quarterback, Bobby Beathard . Madden was drafted in the 21st round (244th overall) by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1958 (months before beginning his senior season at Cal Poly). His senior year, which again saw Madden regularly start on the left side of the offensive line,

3317-644: The 1970s while coach of the Raiders. He followed Nelson when he moved to station KSFO , and the call-ins continued even after Madden's coaching retirement. Madden later made appearances on KNBR . In 1997, he began calling in to radio station KCBS five days a week at 8:15 a.m. Pacific Time. This continued through Thanksgiving 2015, when he ceased calling after heart surgery and other health concerns. He began making twice-weekly appearances on KCBS radio again in 2017, appearing Mondays and Fridays at 9:15 a.m. He stopped making regular radio call-ins in August 2018, citing

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3424-559: The 2011 postseason Dial Global retired the Westwood One branding. In 2012, Dial Global announced it would be the distributor for NBC Sports Radio programming once the network launched in 2013. Though Dial Global changed its name to back to Westwood One in 2013, the organization distributed NBC Sports Radio programs from 2013 to 2020. Through this period, though NBC Sports Radio aired general discussion of NFL games and news, broadcast coverage of live NFL games continued to be carried solely by

3531-701: The AFC Championship game, Madden's Raiders finally defeated their nemesis 24–7 to reach Super Bowl XI . On January 9, 1977, Madden won his first and only NFL title with a 32–14 win over the Minnesota Vikings . The Raiders made the playoffs in 1977 as a Wild Card team, but again lost the AFC Championship Game, this time to the Denver Broncos . The Raiders enjoyed their tenth straight winning campaign under Madden in 1978 but failed to qualify for

3638-422: The AFC could showcase only one team on Thanksgiving, and the AFC team was always the visiting team. Since 2006, a third NFL game on Thanksgiving has been played in prime time . It originally aired on the NFL Network as part of its Thursday Night Football package until 2011, when the game was moved to NBC's Sunday Night Football package under the NFL's current television deals. The night game has never had

3745-580: The AFL/NFL's youngest head coach to that time. Madden's first Raiders squad went 12–1–1 in 1969 but lost 17–7 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the last-ever American Football League Championship Game . This would become a frustrating trend during Madden's coaching career. Oakland won seven AFC West division championships and always played to a winning record during his ten seasons as head coach, but they also lost in six AFL/ AFC Championship Games . One of

3852-476: The Assumption in Santa Maria, California . Afterward, they lived in Pleasanton, California , and had two sons, Joseph and Michael. Joe played football at Brown University and Mike attended Harvard University , where he started as receiver on the football team. Madden and Virginia celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary two days before his death. Madden's aversion to flying was well known, although his fear

3959-669: The Bears played the Lions from 1934 to 1938 while the Cardinals switched to the Green Bay Packers for 1934 and 1935), Frankford Yellow Jackets , Pottsville Maroons , Buffalo All-Americans , Canton Bulldogs (even after the team moved to Cleveland they played the 1924 Thanksgiving game in Canton), and the New York Giants (1929–38, who always played a crosstown rival ). The first owner of

4066-473: The Cowboys contest. (Under league rules, only radio stations that carry at least 12 Cowboys games in a season are allowed to carry the Compass broadcast.) The participating teams also air the games on their local flagship stations and regional radio networks. The Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day game has regularly been the most watched NFL regular season telecast each year, with the Lions' Thanksgiving Day game usually in

4173-558: The Fox network presented All Madden , a documentary highlighting Madden's rise to stardom as an NFL coach and broadcaster. Former and current NFL players appear in the film, which premiered prior to a Christmas Day contest on Fox between the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers in Green Bay , just three days before his death. Following his death, Fox chose to re-air the documentary with

4280-438: The Lions would stay on Thanksgiving Day for the 2009 season , but kept the issue open to revisit in the future. Conversely, the Dallas Cowboys, who typically represent a larger television draw, have had far fewer public calls to be replaced on Thanksgiving Day. One issue that has been debated is a perceived unfair advantage of playing at home on Thanksgiving Day. The advantage is given in the form of an extra day of practice for

4387-506: The Lions, George A. Richards , started the tradition of the Thanksgiving Day game as a gimmick to get people to go to Lions football games, and to continue a tradition begun by the city's previous NFL teams . What differentiated the Lions' efforts from other teams that played on the holiday was that Richards owned radio station WJR , a major affiliate of the NBC Blue Network (the forerunner to today's American Broadcasting Company ); he

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4494-787: The Madden Cruiser. The Madden Cruiser shells were manufactured by Motor Coach Industries . The coach-bus sponsors over the years included Walker Advantage Muffler and Outback Steakhouse . In 2018, Madden donated the original Madden Cruiser to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where it was restored to its original condition. Madden never did commentary for the Pro Bowl , which was held in Honolulu during every year of his broadcasting career. Likewise, Madden never called any preseason game held outside of North America, even when his play-by-play partner

4601-519: The Miller beer advertisements cemented Madden's image in the public eye as a bumbling but lovable personality. Madden appeared in a 1999 episode of The Simpsons , " Sunday, Cruddy Sunday ". Madden also hosted an episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1982 with musical guest Jennifer Holliday . As well, Madden was featured in U2 's music video for the song " Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of ". He made

4708-408: The NFL adopted a new policy requiring players and teams to utilize only one helmet a season to address the league's new concussion protocol ; rather than sport an incomplete throwback look, the Cowboys instead wore their standard blue jerseys at home for the first time since 1963. In 2015, the Cowboys resurrected their 1994 white "Double-Star" jerseys only this time wore them with white pants as part of

4815-525: The NFL's current scheduling formula, which has been in effect in its basic form since 2002, effectively prevented teams from the AFC North from playing at the Lions or Cowboys on Thanksgiving. The formula had the AFC North playing at Dallas or at Detroit in years when other divisions were slated to fill the AFC slot on Thanksgiving. These teams, under the television contracts in place at the time, could only play in

4922-507: The NFL, at least they have the memories. On ABC 's final Monday Night Football telecast in 2005, Madden used a similar choice of words. When Fox gained the rights to NFC games in 1994, CBS employees became free agents. Madden was the biggest star in football broadcasting, and Fox, ABC, and NBC made offers higher than the $ 2 million a year maximum for sportscaster salaries; NBC's owner General Electric (GE) offered to make Madden its "worldwide spokesman", and GE Rail would build for him

5029-580: The Salvation Army began the tradition of kicking off its Christmas Kettle campaign during halftime of the Dallas game. The campaign kickoff event includes a halftime show by a major recording artist, with halftime concerts also eventually being added to the Detroit game (which traditionally supports the United Way 's Live United campaign) and the night game. The NFL has treated the Thanksgiving halftime slots as

5136-656: The Super Bowl. After sharing coverage of Super Bowl I , NBC Radio would go on to broadcast only odd numbered Super Bowls. Jim Simpson served as the play-by-play man for all of NBC Radio's broadcasts (with the exceptions of Super Bowl III , which was called by Charlie Jones and Super Bowl V , which was called by Jay Randolph ) during this era. Simpson, Jones and Randolph were joined on color commentary by George Ratterman (Super Bowls I and III ), Pat Summerall ( Super Bowl III ), Al DeRogatis ( Super Bowl V ), Kyle Rote ( Super Bowl VII ), and John Brodie (Super Bowls IX and XI ). For their coverage of Super Bowl III at

5243-429: The Thanksgiving games resumed in 1945, only the Lions' annual home game would remain on the Thanksgiving holiday. The All-America Football Conference and American Football League , both of which would later be absorbed into the NFL, also held Thanksgiving contests, although neither of those leagues had permanent hosts. Likewise, the AFL of 1926 also played two Thanksgiving games in its lone season of existence, while

5350-482: The Thanksgiving games were eliminated (although in practice games on Fox have remained all-NFC contests). The originally scheduled 2020 primetime game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed to the following Wednesday, December 2, after multiple Baltimore players and staff tested positive for COVID-19 in the days before the game. This thus marked the first time no primetime contest

5457-416: The award has gained notoriety. Madden brought the award to Fox in 1994 , and it continued through 2001. Because of the loose and informal nature of the award, at times it has been awarded to multiple players. On one occasion (1994) it was given to players from both teams. When John Madden left Fox after 2001, Fox introduced a new award starting in 2002, named the Galloping Gobbler . It was represented by

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5564-460: The awarding of a “Madden Player of the Game” after each game, with NBC continuing on the tradition of awarding the turkey leg(s) to its player(s) of the game. Of all those players, I think Jack Youngblood...personified the All-Madden team spirit... —John Madden In 1984, Madden took the advice of NFL coach John Robinson —a friend of Madden since elementary school—and created the "All-Madden" team,

5671-521: The behest of then-Commissioner Pete Rozelle , the St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as a host team (Dallas then hosted St. Louis in 1976). Although the Cardinals, at the time known as the "Cardiac Cards" due to their propensity for winning very close games, were a modest success at the time, they were nowhere near as popular nationwide as the Cowboys, who were regular Super Bowl contenders during this era. This, combined with St. Louis's consistently weak attendance,

5778-693: The cover in tribute of his legacy, with the next gen version cover being a picture of Madden celebrating his victory as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI and the All Madden Edition cover being based on the cover of the series' 1st installment, John Madden Football . NFL Broadcasting Halls of Fame Madden met his wife, Virginia Fields, in a bar in Pismo Beach, California . They married on December 26, 1959, at St. Mary of

5885-525: The current NFL, attempted to settle its championship over Thanksgiving weekend; after the game ended in a tie, eventually all three teams in the league claimed to have won the title. Members of the Ohio League , during its early years, usually placed their marquee matchups on Thanksgiving Day. For instance, in 1905 and 1906 the Latrobe Athletic Association and Canton Bulldogs , considered at

5992-409: The early 1980s, a short film aired depicting Madden making the journey to New York City to host SNL by train. In the mid-1980s, Madden was a frequent rider on Amtrak 's Lake Shore Limited ; Amtrak let the famous customer use the dining car at any time. However, beginning in 1987, Greyhound Lines supplied Madden with a custom bus and drivers in exchange for advertising and speaking events, dubbed

6099-525: The early time slot and Dallas in the late afternoon slot. Because of television network commitments in place through the 2013 season, to make sure that both the AFC-carrying network (NBC from 1965 to 1997, and CBS since 1998) and the NFC-carrying network (CBS from 1956 to 1993, and Fox since 1994) got at least one game each, one of these games was between NFC opponents, and one featured AFC-NFC opponents. Thus,

6206-609: The end of his tenure, Fox was reportedly losing an estimated $ 4.4 billion on its NFL contract for the eight-year deal it signed in 1998, and it had been trying to cut programming costs as a result. Madden's Fox contract would have been worth $ 8 million for 2003. In 2002, Madden became a commentator on ABC 's Monday Night Football , working with longtime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels . Madden reportedly made $ 5 million per year. In 2005, Dick Ebersol , president of NBC Sports , announced that Madden would provide color commentary for NBC's Sunday night NFL games , beginning with

6313-490: The end of the 1968 season , NBC used Pat Summerall (best known for his work for CBS and subsequently, Fox ) to provide an "NFL prospective" on the coverage. This was due in part to the fact that NBC was at the time, the network television provider of the American Football League (whereas CBS was the network television provider for the pre-merger National Football League ). In return, for CBS Radio's coverage of Super Bowls I , II and IV , they used Tom Hedrick , normally

6420-407: The first color television broadcast of an NFL game was the Thanksgiving Day match between the Lions and the Baltimore Colts . Starting in 1970 , the Detroit "early" game and the Dallas "late" game initially rotated annually as intra-conference ( NFC at NFC) and inter-conference ( AFC at NFC) games. This was to satisfy the then-television contract balance between the network holding the rights to

6527-450: The first "Turkey Leg Award", for the game's most valuable player. Pursuant to its name, it was an actual cooked turkey leg, and players typically took a celebratory bite out of the leg for the cameras during post-game interviews. Reggie White of the Eagles was the first recipient. The gesture was seen mostly as an amusing gimmick tied to the holiday and relating to Madden's famous multi-legged turkeys and turduckens . Since then, however,

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6634-624: The franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XI . Never having a losing season, Madden holds the highest winning percentage among NFL head coaches who coached at least 100 games. As of the end of the 2023 season , Madden has the most wins as head coach in Raiders history with 103 wins. After retiring from coaching, Madden was a color commentator for NFL telecasts from 1979 to 2009 and won 16 Sports Emmy Awards . Madden appeared on all four major American television networks, providing commentary for games broadcast by CBS , Fox , ABC , and NBC . He also lent his name, expertise, and commentary to

6741-553: The game as an educational tool. During initial planning conversations with Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins in 1984, Madden envisioned the program as a tool for teaching and testing plays. He stated in 2012 that Madden NFL was "a way for people to learn the game [of football] and participate in the game at a pretty sophisticated level". The EA Sports series continues to use his name, iconography and licence following his death, and announced on Madden Day (June 1, 2022) that all editions of Madden NFL 23 would feature Madden on

6848-402: The game, the Lions had lost their last four Thanksgiving Day games, and opinions amongst the media had suggested removing the Lions and replacing them with a more attractive matchup. The team also required an extension to prevent a local television blackout . The Lions were routed by the Tennessee Titans 47–10, en route to the team's 0–16 season . NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that

6955-623: The holiday in 1969 (while the team was still an AFL franchise in San Diego), appeared for the first time as an NFL member in 2017. * All-America Football Conference team. Since 1989, informal and sometimes lighthearted Most outstanding player / MVP awards have been issued by the networks broadcasting the respective games. Running back Emmitt Smith holds the record for most Thanksgiving MVPs with five (1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2002), followed by Tony Romo with four (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013). Among players not from Detroit or Dallas, Josh Allen , Drew Brees and Brett Favre each hold three. Voting on

7062-403: The home team while the road team has to travel to the game site. This is true for most Thursday games, but with the night games, the visitor can travel to the game site after practice on Wednesday and hold the final walkthrough the following morning. With the introduction of the prime time game, which effectively allows all teams in the league an opportunity to play on Thanksgiving Day, along with

7169-414: The introduction of year-long Thursday Night Football ensuring all teams have one Thursday game during the regular season (thus negating any on-field advantages or disadvantages to being selected for Thanksgiving Day), the calls for the Lions and the Cowboys to be removed have diminished. DuMont was the first network to televise Thanksgiving Day games in 1953 ; CBS took over in 1956 , and in 1965 ,

7276-476: The league's Color Rush , a trial run of specially-designed, monochromatic jerseys to be worn during Thursday games. In 2022, after the NFL lifted the one-helmet rule, the Cowboys resumed wearing the throwback navy "Double-Star" jerseys on Thanksgiving. In 2001–2004, and again in 2008, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2023 the Detroit Lions have worn throwback uniforms based on their very early years. For 2019 and 2022, Detroit wore its silver Color Rush uniforms. In 1997,

7383-424: The merger), lobbied heavily in favor of his team hosting a game on the holiday. When the NFL adopted a third, prime time game, the Chiefs were selected as the first team to host such a contest, but the team was not made a permanent host, and Hunt's death shortly after the 2006 contest ended the lobbying on behalf of the team. The host issue came to a head in 2008, focusing particularly on the winless Lions. Going into

7490-410: The most frustrating playoff defeats came in 1972 , when what appeared to be a last-minute AFC divisional round victory over the Steelers instead became a part of football lore when Franco Harris ' " Immaculate Reception " gave Pittsburgh a 13–7 win. In 1974, after knocking the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins out of the playoffs in dramatic fashion , the Raiders again lost to

7597-425: The move; half the states recognized the move and the other half did not. This complicated scheduling for Thanksgiving games. Incidentally, the two teams were also exploring the possibility of a merger at the time.) Because of the looming World War II and the resulting shorter seasons, the NFL did not schedule any Thanksgiving games in 1941, nor did it schedule any in the subsequent years until the war ended in 1945. When

7704-537: The national program NFL on Westwood One Sports and local radio broadcasters. However, Westwood One does presently acknowledge the NBC Radio broadcasts in 1986 as part of the entire history of the network's football coverage. NBC Television broadcast at least some NFL games every season from 1965 to 1997, when they lost the rights to carry the American Football Conference package to CBS . In 2006 ,

7811-415: The other guy wish he put a little more in the collection plate at church. It's about a guy who's got a dirty uniform, mud on his face and grass in the ear hole of his helmet. Madden was featured in the movie Little Giants . He also played himself as the broadcaster of the fictional games in the film The Replacements alongside his broadcast partner at the time Pat Summerall . On December 25, 2021,

7918-646: The player's name to the United Way if the game is played in Detroit, or the Salvation Army if the Thanksgiving Day game is played in Dallas. John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them to eight playoff appearances, seven division titles, seven AFL / AFC Championship Game appearances, and

8025-408: The playoffs for just the second time in his tenure. Soon after their season ended, Madden announced his retirement on January 4, 1979, due to a troublesome ulcer and occupational burnout , stating that he was permanently ending his coaching career. Among Madden's accomplishments as a head coach were winning a Super Bowl, and becoming the youngest coach to reach 100 career regular-season victories,

8132-475: The potential for CBS to broadcast an NFC vs. NFC game on Thanksgiving Day. From that year through 2016, CBS carried all-NFC contests every year on Thanksgiving Day, and in 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2023, no AFC teams played in any of the Thanksgiving Day games. To date, the NFL has never assigned an AFC road game to Fox on Thanksgiving Day. Westwood One most recently held national radio broadcast rights to all three games, with Compass Media Networks sharing rights to

8239-429: The practice of hosting Thanksgiving games. It is widely rumored that the Cowboys sought a guarantee that they would regularly host Thanksgiving games as a condition of their very first one (since games on days other than Sunday were uncommon at the time and thus high attendance was not a certainty). This is only partly true: Dallas had in fact decided on their own to host games on Thanksgiving; team president Tex Schramm

8346-489: The radio voice of the Kansas City Chiefs , to provide an "AFL perspective" for their coverage. In January 1986, NBC Radio figures indicated an audience of 10 million for their coverage Super Bowl XX between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots . In 1987, NBC Radio's broadcast of Super Bowl XXI between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos was heard by a record 10.1 million people. Bob Trumpy also hosted

8453-584: The regular-season. By the time football had become a professional event, playing on Thanksgiving had already become an institution. Records of pro football being played on Thanksgiving date back to as early as the 1890s, with the first pro–am team, the Allegheny Athletic Association of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. In 1902, the National Football League , a Major League Baseball -backed organization based entirely in Pennsylvania and unrelated to

8560-403: The respective awards is typically done informally by the announcing crew and/or producers, and criteria are loose. Noteworthy statistical accomplishments weigh heavily, and "group" awards are not uncommon. The announcement of the winner(s), and the presentation of the award is normally done immediately following the game, during post-game network coverage. In 1989 , John Madden of CBS awarded

8667-484: The series have consistently been best-sellers, to the extent that they have even spawned TV shows featuring competition between players of the games. Despite Madden's retirement as a broadcaster in 2009, he still continued to lend his name and provide creative input to the series, which were so popular that he became better known as the face of Madden to contemporary football fans than as a Super Bowl-winning coach and broadcaster, up until his death in 2021. Madden viewed

8774-451: The show for the first several weeks of the season before being taken off the coverage for unspecified reasons. Chris Carlin subbed for Trautwig for a week before Scott Graham took over the hosting duties and continued to helm the show for the remainder of the season. In addition to the typical NFL Sunday score rundown and a preview of the game ahead, NBC analysts (usually Jerome Bettis or Cris Collinsworth ) would provide commentary. After

8881-797: The third (night) game. With changes in the scheduling practices in 2014 ("cross-flexing"), the division is no longer barred from participating in one of the afternoon games. Even with cross-flexing available, an AFC North team has yet to play at Detroit or Dallas on Thanksgiving, and all of the AFC North's appearances have thus far been in the night game. The Los Angeles Rams have the longest active appearance drought of any team, with their last appearance coming in 1975. Since 2010, several appearance droughts have ended. New Orleans , Cincinnati , Baltimore , Houston , and Carolina all played their first Thanksgiving games during this time frame. San Francisco likewise played their first Thanksgiving game since 1972 in 2011. The Los Angeles Chargers, who last played on

8988-656: The time to be two of the best teams in professional football (along with the Massillon Tigers ), played on Thanksgiving. A rigging scandal with the Tigers leading up to the 1906 game led to severe drops in attendance for the Bulldogs and ultimately led to their suspension of operations. During the 1910s, the Ohio League stopped holding Thanksgiving games because many of its players coached high school teams and were unavailable. This

9095-604: The top coaches of that era. Madden joined CBS as a color commentator in 1979. After working lower-profile contests during his first years, he was elevated to CBS's top football broadcasting duo with Pat Summerall in 1981, replacing Tom Brookshier . Prior to teaming with Summerall on CBS, Madden was paired with a variety of announcers, such as Bob Costas , Vin Scully , Dick Stockton , Frank Glieber , and Gary Bender . The team of Madden and Summerall would go on to call eight Super Bowls together. On occasions in which Summerall

9202-496: The top five. (Winning teams are denoted by boldface type; tie games are italicized.) Of current NFL franchises. This includes American Football League (AFL) games; however, it does not include All-America Football Conference (AAFC) games. The last currently active franchise to have never played on Thanksgiving through 2024 is the Jacksonville Jaguars , who joined the league in 1995 . An idiosyncrasy in

9309-562: The tradition continued. Fox, CBS, and the NFL Network (and later NBC) presented the Galloping Gobbler to the game's "Most Valuable" player through 2015. Following his death, the NFL now honors Madden every Thanksgiving; beginning in 2022, the entire tripleheader of games was dubbed the "John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration". A recording of Madden was played before each of the Thanksgiving games in 2022, and has continued since, along with

9416-558: The trophy; he then gave the award to several people every year until 2013, after which he reverted to a single MVP in 2014. Simms was removed from the broadcast booth for the 2017 season in favor of Tony Romo , who did not carry on the tradition. Instead, the " Chevrolet Player of the Game" award was extended to CBS' Thanksgiving Day game. As in CBS' regular Sunday afternoon NFL coverage as well as Fox's regular NFL coverage, Chevrolet will donate money in

9523-496: The use of weights to increase strides and speed in athletic training. He won first-team all-conference honors at offensive tackle in his debut season at Cal Poly , and was a catcher on the Mustangs baseball team . Known amongst his teammates for his impressive downfield speed for a lineman, Madden also was selected by United Press International for Little All-Coast Second Team accolades following his junior season of 1957. During

9630-507: The week off because he had traveled from Jacksonville to San Diego, and would have had to go back to Florida before returning to his Northern California home. Madden was replaced by Football Night in America studio analyst Cris Collinsworth for the game, and returned for the following telecast on November 2, 2008, in Indianapolis (until 2010 the NFL did not schedule Sunday night games for one week in October, so as not to overlap with

9737-480: The weekend, and in some cases also involved classic field logos at the stadiums. From 2001 to 2003, Dallas chose to represent the 1990s Cowboys dynasty by wearing the navy "Double-Star" jersey not seen since 1995 . In 2004 , the team wore uniforms not seen since 1963 . In 2009, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the AFL , both Dallas and Oakland played in a "AFL Legacy Game." In 2013, the Cowboys intended to wear their 1960s throwbacks, but chose not to do so after

9844-584: Was redshirted because of a knee injury and had a knee operation. Then he attended the College of San Mateo in 1955, then Grays Harbor College , playing in the fall of 1956, before transferring to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo , where he played both offense and defense for the Mustangs in 1957 and 1958 while earning a Bachelor of Science in education in 1959 and then a Master of Arts in education in 1961. Madden's senior research project at Cal Poly focused on

9951-556: Was able to negotiate an agreement with NBC to carry his Thanksgiving games live across the network. During the Franksgiving controversy in 1939 and 1940, the only two teams to play the game were the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles , as both teams were in the same state ( Pennsylvania ). (At the time, then- U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to move the holiday for economic reasons and many states were resistant to

10058-408: Was also the title of Madden's third best-selling book (after Hey, Wait A Minute? I Wrote a Book and One Knee Equals Two Feet ). In All Madden , Madden explained: What does it mean to be 'All-Madden'? It's a whole range of things. For defensive linemen and linebackers, it's about Jack Youngblood playing with a busted leg, Lawrence Taylor wreaking havoc on the offense and Reggie White making

10165-414: Was bought by Westwood One in 1987, shortly after NBC Radio lost NFL rights. Additionally, Westwood One has owned the rights (either alone or in conjunction with CBS) to broadcast NFL games since NBC Radio lost them, and generally broadcast NFL games under the title CBS Radio Sports in conjunction with CBS Radio . Westwood One (along with its NFL rights) was acquired by Dial Global in 2011, and following

10272-666: Was cut short due to a season-ending collarbone injury suffered while making a tackle against Long Beach State in October 1958, with four games remaining on the schedule. However, on January 3, 1959, Madden played in the All-American Bowl in Tucson, Arizona , and was later praised by Lou Pavlovich of The Sporting News for his play in the showcase. Then, however, he suffered an injury on his other knee in his first training camp, during an Eagles scrimmage in August 1959, ending his playing career without having had an opportunity to play in

10379-421: Was due to a heart attack , citing open-heart surgery he had in 2015. In a press release announcing Madden's death, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that Madden " was football", adding, "there will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today." In addition to hosting an annual bocce tournament which raised money for both

10486-437: Was enticed by the publicity that would come with a permanent nationally televised contest and volunteered to be host when the NFL proposed the second Thanksgiving game. Schramm also anticipated a home field advantage in that the shorter week would favor the home team because the opponent would not only lose three days of practice but additional time traveling to Dallas that the Cowboys could use to prepare. In 1975 and 1977, at

10593-492: Was held since 2005. On November 11, 2022, the league announced that the Thanksgiving games would be branded as the "John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration", honoring the memory of head coach and broadcaster John Madden . Madden called 20 Thanksgiving games as the lead analyst for CBS Sports from 1981 to 1993 and Fox Sports from 1994 to 2001. Since 2001 teams playing on Thanksgiving have worn throwback uniforms on numerous occasions. In 2002, it extended to nearly all games of

10700-507: Was hired by Al Davis as linebackers coach for the AFL's Oakland Raiders in 1967 , putting him in the Sid Gillman coaching tree . He helped the team reach Super Bowl II that season. A year later, after Raiders head coach John Rauch resigned to take the same position with the Buffalo Bills , Madden was named the Raiders' head coach on February 4, 1969, becoming, at the age of 32,

10807-614: Was not realized until many years into his adult life. He had lost people close to him in the October 29, 1960, California Polytechnic State University football team plane crash that claimed the lives of 16 players, the team's student manager, and a football booster. However, it was not until 1979 that he had his first panic attack on a flight originating in Tampa, Florida ; he never flew on a plane again. Madden, however, stated once in an interview that his fears were not about turbulence, flying, or heights , but primarily claustrophobia . During his Saturday Night Live hosting appearance in

10914-642: Was not the case in other regional circuits: in 1919, the New York Pro Football League featured a Thanksgiving matchup between the Buffalo Prospects and the Rochester Jeffersons . The game ended in a scoreless tie, leading to a rematch the next Sunday for the league championship. Several other NFL teams played regularly on Thanksgiving in the first eighteen years of the league, including the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals (1922–33;

11021-588: Was on the telecast. Madden found an unexpected use for his bus in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks , when he provided transportation for former ice-skating champion Peggy Fleming , whose flight home to Los Gatos, California , had been grounded. Madden died at his home in Pleasanton, California, on December 28, 2021, at the age of 85. While the cause of death has never been disclosed, many believe it

11128-562: Was promoted to head coach in 1962. Madden went 12–6 in two seasons, including an 8–1 mark in 1963, during which his Bulldogs were ranked No. 9 nationally among city colleges. Following the 1963 season, he was hired as a defensive assistant coach at San Diego State , where he served through 1966. During that final campaign, the 1966 Aztecs were ranked among the top small colleges in the country. While at San Diego State, Madden coached under Don Coryell , whom Madden credited as being an influence on his coaching. Building on that success, Madden

11235-472: Was punctuated with interjections such as "Boom!", "Whap!", "Bang!", and "Doink!"' and with his use of the telestrator , a device which allowed him to superimpose his light-penned diagrams of football plays over video footage. Madden's use of the telestrator helped to popularize the technology, which has become a staple of television coverage of all sports. Madden was also known for working the annual Thanksgiving Day games for CBS and later Fox. He would award

11342-401: Was unavailable (during the CBS years, Summerall was normally scheduled to commentate on the U.S. Open tennis tournament during the early weeks of the NFL season), Madden would team with the likes of Vin Scully and subsequently, Verne Lundquist . On their final CBS telecast together (the 1993 NFC Championship Game on January 23, 1994), Madden told Summerall that while CBS may no longer have

11449-549: Was young. John attended Catholic parochial school with John Robinson at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, graduating in 1950, and then Jefferson High School , graduating in 1954. A football star in high school, Madden played one season at the College of San Mateo , in 1954, before he was given a football scholarship to the University of Oregon , studying pre-law, and playing football with childhood friend John Robinson . He

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