Lions began Thanksgiving tradition in forgotten college football stadium that now has completely different purpose

Make no mistake: It was the Detroit Lions, not the Dallas Cowboys, who began the Thanksgiving tradition.

As much as Jerry Jones would like everyone to believe that America’s Team started the Thanksgiving tradition, it was actually the Lions who played on the holiday long before the Cowboys.

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And they first did so at a site that is now just an empty parking lot.

Ninety-one years ago, Lions owner G.A. Richards pushed to play on the holiday, and the rest was history.

On November 29, 1934, the Lions hosted the Chicago Bears at the University of Detroit Stadium, where over 26,000 fans packed in to watch a football game on one of the country’s most popular holidays.

The 10-1 Lions welcomed the 10-0 Bears with the Western Division title on the line in a game that saw Chicago’s Bronko Nagurski throw a game-winning two-yard touchdown pass to Bill Hewitt, giving the Bears a 19-16 victory.

Who could forget where football on Thanksgiving began? Not in Dallas, Texas, but rather at the University of Detroit Stadium, which was demolished in 1971 and is now just a parking lot.

What began as a simple idea to generate excitement has grown into a nationwide tradition, with families and friends gathering each year to watch football and enjoy a holiday meal together.

The Lions hold the record for the most Thanksgiving games, having taken the field 85 times since the inaugural holiday game in 1934.

They have an all-time record of 38-45-2.

Though Detroit paved the way, Dallas joined the Thanksgiving tradition three decades later and has become just as closely associated with the holiday.

Long before the Cowboys became known as “America’s Team,” general manager Tex Schramm saw the holiday as a chance to raise the team’s national visibility.

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However, the league wasn’t fully convinced, so it promised Dallas a guaranteed portion of the gate revenue to ease the risk.

The Cowboys played their first Thanksgiving game in 1966, at the Cotton Bowl against the Cleveland Browns in front of 80,259 fans.

They won 26-14.

The Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving every year since, missing only 1975 and 1977, and hold a 34-22-1 record.

The only two years Dallas didn’t play on Thanksgiving came when commissioner Pete Rozelle decided to see whether the St. Louis Cardinals could build national appeal under coach Don Coryell, whose teams were known as the “Cardiac Kids” for their dramatic finishes.

He scheduled the Cardinals for the Thanksgiving games in ’75 and ’77, but they lost both contests and the idea fell flat. Rozelle then went back to Tex Schramm and asked if the Cowboys wanted the holiday game back.

talkSPORT reacts...the NFL on Thanksgiving is one of sport's finest traditions

Got an in-law you’re not exactly close with? Struggling to find common ground? Just flip on the NFL game and you’re in the clear.

Football and Thanksgiving go together like peanut butter and jelly. You don’t even have to love the sport to appreciate the pageantry and tradition of having the NFL on TV while the turkey cooks and the mashed potatoes and stuffing come together.

Go ahead and let your father-in-law ramble about the days when the Lions could never win on Thanksgiving, or your mother-in-law insist that the Cowboys were once a dynasty.

Lean back, watch the games, and enjoy. Few things in life top turkey and football on Thanksgiving.

Jack Savage, NFL Writer

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“It was a dud in St. Louis,” Schramm told the Chicago Tribune in 1988.

“Pete asked if we’d take it back. I said only if we get it permanently. It’s something you have to build as a tradition. He said, ‘It’s yours forever.'”

And it has been that way ever since, even though the Lions were first.

This year, the Cowboys take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, while the Lions take on the Green Bay Packers in a massive NFC North battle.

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