Thanksgiving football games: Why are there 3 NFL games on Thursday this week?

The tradition of three games on Thanksgiving Thursday started in 2006.

Thanksgiving football games: Why are there 3 NFL games on Thursday this week?

Detroit Lions (via CNN)

Thanksgiving is upon the football world. A slate of games have been decided for this week and it is a bit different from the usual. There will be three games on Thursday as opposed to the usual one solitary game. This tradition of three Thursday games on Thanksgiving week started in 2006 and is still going on today.

Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys have been playing on Thursdays since the very beginning. In 1934, the Lions’ owner George A. Richards decided to play on Thanksgiving to attract more fans to their team. That proved to be a masterstroke, as the stadium has been filled with fans ever since.

The Dallas Cowboys, on the other hand, joined the Lions in the 1960s. The Cowboys were struggling at that time. Their GM Tex Schramm decided to increase the team’s publicity by playing on Thanksgiving.

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Since then, both the teams have always played on Thanksgiving every year. In 2006, the NFL decided to add another game on Thursday during this week. It continued to air on NFL Network as part of the Thursday Night Football package until 2011.

However, since then it has been shifted to NBC’s Sunday Night Football package, which means this particular game has no conference tie-ins. Any two teams can play in this game. This year, the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers are scheduled to play that game.

The Lions will take on the Green Bay Packers in the early slot of the day. The Cowboys will then host the Washington Commanders in the evening and the Seahawks and Niners will play the final game of the day. That’s a lot of football!

Jacksonville Jaguars are the only team to not have a Thanksgiving appearance in the NFL

Thanksgiving games have always been popular. It is one of the most exciting weeks in the football calendar and teams revel in the Thanksgiving spotlight. However, there’s one team that is yet to play on Thanksgiving, and that is the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars (via CNN)

For some reason, the NFL hasn’t put the Jaguars on their Thanksgiving schedule since their inception in 1995. They are a relatively young team in the league, but the Houston Texans, who debuted in 2002, have a Thanksgiving appearance, but not the Jaguars. Even after the NFL decided to add a third game on Thanksgiving in 2006, the Jaguars have yet to find a slot on that day.

This year, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys will play as per tradition. The Lions will take on the Green Bay Packers and the Cowboys will play against the Washington Commanders. The third game is between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. Hopefully, the Jaguars find a way to play on Thanksgiving at some point in the future.

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