Monday Milestone: Giving Thanks
“Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-times take 12 minutes. This is not a coincidence”
– Erma Bombeck
This week in History:
1920, November 25:
The first professional American football match is played on Thanksgiving between the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Tigers.
Ask any American to summarise the tradition of Thanksgiving and they will most probably refer to the pilgrims, turkey, and football.
The American custom of watching football on the fourth Thursday of November is just as entrenched as stories from the Mayflower, or the local Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here at the Milestone, we wondered this week, where did it all begin?
Whilst there is evidence of Thanksgiving football games dating back over a century, the legend that suggests it was in 1920, the inaugural season of the American Professional Football Association (later the NFL), when the Chicago Tigers and the Decatur Staleys first challenged one another to an official Thanksgiving duel in Chicago. Rivalry for the fan base in Illinois was fierce, and the story goes that it was proposed that the loser of the match would be relegated out of the league, leaving the winner with a monopoly on Chicago.
Of course this remains unsubstantiated. But consider this – after the Staleys won the match 6-0, the following occurred: the Tigers folded at the end of the 1920 season and the Staleys whilst moving up to Chicago the following season, became who are today known as the Chicago Bears. Coincidence?
Either way, the story of football on Thanksgiving had begun and continued the following season when the now Chicago Staleys, challenged the undefeated Buffalo All-Americans to another Thanksgiving Day encounter. When Buffalo won, a rematch was demanded, and granted on the condition that it would be an exhibition match, and wouldn’t count towards the season. When the Staleys won the sequel, Chicago immediately lobbied the league for the match to count. Unbelievably the league acquiesced, with that result ultimately proving the difference between the sides meaning that year the championship headed to Chicago instead of Buffalo. Even today the move is still regarded by many Buffalo fans as the “Staley Swindle”.
The concept of football on Thanksgiving was set and matches continued, becoming more firmly entrenched in 1934 when the new Detroit Lions franchise, looking to gain greater exposure played the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving, drawing a crowd almost double the previous largest turnout that season with thousands more allegedly turned away. The Lions have hosted Thanksgiving matches ever since. Recognising the success of these holiday encounters, the Dallas Cowboys in 1966 also instituted their own annual Thanksgiving clash capitalising on what have become among the biggest matches of the year, underlining the intrinsic cultural importance football on Thanksgiving now holds.
And will continue to hold on Thursday when Americans tuck into their turkey. When they watch the Lions play the Packers at Ford Field, and Dallas take on Miami at Cowboys Stadium they will give thanks. Not just for the pilgrims, or the turkey, but hopefully also for the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Tigers who brought about the very tradition of football on Thanksgiving. Happy holidays.
The Milestone Five: Memorable Thanksgiving Matches:
5. 1998 – Detroit 19 defeated Pittsburgh 16 in overtime. When the coin was tossed, the Pittsburgh call was misheard resulting in Detroit being handed the ball. A field goal resulted from their first drive in overtime.
4. 1986 – The Shootout. Green Bay 44 defeated Detroit 40 in the highest scoring match in Thanksgiving history.
3. 1976 – Detroit 27 defeated Buffalo 14. Despite the defeat OJ Simpson produced one of the greatest Thanksgiving matches setting the league record for rushing yards with 273.
2. 1934 – Chicago 19 defeated Detroit 16. This is the first match in Detroit and went a long way towards perpetuating the modern football tradition on Thanksgiving.
1. 1974 – Dallas 24 defeated Washington 23. Unknown Dallas quarterback Clint Longley that rallied the Cowboys from 16-3 down with two late touchdowns to snatch victory. As a wry side note, there’s also a certain amount of Thanksgiving symbolism of the Cowboys overcoming the Redskins.
With thanks to Matthew Stockman/Getty Images North America for the photo
