#nfl-history

#nfl-history

What started as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game in 1967 and officially became known as the Super Bowl two years later has long since carved a permanent place on the calendar as the most unofficial of holidays across America. From Tom Brady and Joe Montana to the Steel Curtain Pittsburgh Steelers, from the Doomsday defense of the Dallas Cowboys to the Team of the '80s 49ers

The enclosed tunnel is 192 feet long and 23 feet side to side, marked by a gray concrete floor that exaggerates the many wheels and shoes that go up and down it. The blue walls are painted with black accents. The trek from the field to the tunnel features a 7% incline. At the top there are two locker rooms -- one home, one away.

Thanksgiving is a time for family ... and football. So we're using our latest NFL Power Rankings to look at the holiday synonymous with the sport. Ahead of the three games on Thursday (Packers at Lions, Chiefs at Cowboys and Bengals at Ravens), we asked our NFL Nation reporters to look back at each team's history on the holiday. Thirty-one teams have at least one appearance on Thanksgiving -- sorry Jaguars fans, better luck next year.

The event was the brainchild of an ambitious Los Angeles-based lettuce farmer, Frank Takahashi. Takahashi footed the bill to stage a cross-Pacific showdown between the two teams, hoping one day to own a Tokyo-based franchise - a cost of several hundred thousand dollars at the time, equivalent to millions today. "If we have a sellout," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1976, "I will break even."

Lionel Taylor, an original Denver Bronco and a Ring of Fame member, died at age 89 on August 6, leaving a significant legacy in professional football.

The Dallas Cowboys are generally a good football team. However, they've had their ups and downs, and perhaps their lowest point was 1989 when they won only one single game. This was right after the team was purchased by current owner Jerry Jones, and they had all-time-great NFL coach Jimmy Johnson on the sidelines.