Detroit have hosted Thanksgiving Day games for the longest of any franchise in the league. Dating all the way back to 1934 - 89 years ago - the Lions began the tradition against the Chicago Bears. Then-team owner George A. Richards believed that hosting a game on the national holiday would get more people inside the stadium and it turned out to be a huge success, becoming a staple tradition of the NFL ever since.
The team's former GM Tex Schramm wanted to increase publicity by playing on the nationwide holiday. Over 80,000 supporters attended the Cowboys' first Thanksgiving clash and they've played on the date in every year since- excluding 1975 and 1977 when the St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as a host team.
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