NFL on Thanksgiving Day The National Football League on Thanksgiving Day is a traditional series of games played during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States . It has been a regular occurrence since the league ' s inception in 1920 . Currently , three NFL games are played every Thanksgiving . The first two are hosted by the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys , with one team from each conference playing either team on a rotating basis ; a third game , with no fixed opponents , has been played annually since 2006 . History . The concept of American football games being played on Thanksgiving Day dates back to 1876 , shortly after the game had been invented . In that year , the college football teams at Yale and Princeton began an annual tradition of playing each other on Thanksgiving Day . The University of Michigan also made it a tradition to play annual Thanksgiving games , holding 19 such games from 1885 to 1905 . The Thanksgiving Day games between Michigan and the Chicago Maroons in the 1890s have been cited as " The Beginning of Thanksgiving Day Football . " In some areas , high - school teams play on Thanksgiving , usually to wrap - up the regular - season . By the time football had become a professional event , playing on Thanksgiving had already become an institution . Records of pro football being played on Thanksgiving date back to as early as the 1890s , with the first pro – am team , the Allegheny Athletic Association of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . In 1902 , the " National " Football League , a Major League Baseball - backed organization based entirely in Pennsylvania and unrelated to the current NFL , attempted to settle its championship over Thanksgiving weekend ; after the game ended in a tie , eventually all three teams in the league claimed to have won the title . Members of the Ohio League , during its early years , usually placed their marquee matchups on Thanksgiving Day . For instance , in 1905 and 1906 the Latrobe Athletic Association and Canton Bulldogs , considered at the time to be two of the best teams in professional football ( along with the Massillon Tigers ) , played on Thanksgiving . A rigging scandal with the Tigers leading up to the 1906 game led to severe drops in attendance for the Bulldogs and ultimately led to their suspension of operations . During the 1910s , the Ohio League stopped holding Thanksgiving games because many of its players coached high school teams and were unavailable . This was not the case in other regional circuits : in 1919 , the New York Pro Football League featured a Thanksgiving matchup between the Buffalo Prospects and the Rochester Jeffersons . The game ended in a scoreless tie , leading to a rematch the next Sunday for the league championship . The first owner of the Lions , G . A . Richards , started the tradition of the Thanksgiving Day game as a gimmick to get people to go to Lions football games , and to continue a tradition begun by the city ' s previous NFL teams . Several other NFL teams played regularly on Thanksgiving in first eighteen years of the league , including the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals ( 1922 – 33 ; the Bears played the Lions from 1934 to 1938 while the Cardinals switched to the Green Bay Packers for 1934 and 1935 ) , Frankford Yellow Jackets , Pottsville Maroons , Buffalo All - Americans , Canton Bulldogs ( even after the team moved to Cleveland they played the 1924 Thanksgiving game in Canton ) , and the New York Giants ( 1929 – 38 , who always played a crosstown rival ) . During the Franksgiving controversy in 1939 and 1940 , the only two teams to play the game were the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles , as both teams were in the same state ( Pennsylvania ) . ( At the time , then - president Franklin Roosevelt wanted to move the holiday for economic reasons and many states were resistant to the move ; half the states recognized the move and the other half did not . This complicated scheduling for Thanksgiving games . Incidentally , the two teams were also exploring the possibility of a merger at the time . ) Because of the looming World War II and the resulting shorter seasons , the NFL did not schedule any Thanksgiving games in 1941 , nor did it schedule any in the subsequent years until the war ended in 1945 . When the Thanksgiving games resumed in 1945 , only one game would be played each year ( except 1950 and 1952 ) , and only the Lions would have a permanent Thanksgiving game . In 1951 , the Packers began a thirteen - season run as the perpetual opponent to the Lions each year through 1963 . In 1966 , the Dallas Cowboys , who had been founded six years earlier , adopted the practice of hosting Thanksgiving games . It is widely rumored that the Cowboys sought a guarantee that they would regularly host Thanksgiving games as a condition of their very first one ( since games on days other than Sunday were uncommon at the time and thus high attendance was not a certainty ) . Incidentally , Texas was the last state to recognize the " fourth Thursday " rule for Thanksgiving that had been imposed as a result of the Franksgiving compromise two decades prior , and had just adopted the rule ( as opposed to the previous last - Thursday rule ) in 1961 , five years before Dallas started hosting Thanksgiving games . ( The fourth and final Thursdays were the same between 1957 and 1960 ; the last time Texas had celebrated Thanksgiving on the week after the rest of the country was 1956 . ) The two " traditional " Thanksgiving Day pro football games have then been in Detroit and Dallas . Because of TV network commitments , to make sure that both the AFC - carrying network and the NFC - carrying network got at least one game each , one of these games was between NFC opponents , and one featured AFC - NFC opponents . Thus , the AFC could showcase only one team on Thanksgiving , and the AFC team was always the visiting team . The All - America Football Conference and American Football League , both of which would later be absorbed into the NFL , also held Thanksgiving contests , although neither of those leagues had permanent hosts . Likewise , the AFL of 1926 also played two Thanksgiving games in its lone season of existence . ( The 1936 – 41 incarnations of the American Football League ended their seasons the weekend before Thanksgiving . ) Since 2006 , a third NFL game on Thanksgiving has been played at night . It originally aired on the NFL Network as part of its " Thursday Night Football " package until 2011 ; NBC began carrying the night game in 2012 . The Thanksgiving night game has no fixed opponents or conferences , enabling the league to freely choose whatever marquee match - up to feature on that night . The 2012 changes will allow both Dallas and Detroit in the future to offer NFC games ( one would be played at night ) , and CBS can offer a game with two AFC teams . The changes also allow , as happened in 2014 when none of the six teams selected to play on Thanksgiving were from the AFC , the networks to choose opponents from either conference , regardless of whether they own the rights to that conference . Throwback uniforms . Since teams playing on Thanksgiving have worn throwback uniform s on numerous occasions . In some years ( namely 2002 ) , it extended to nearly all games of the weekend , and in some cases also involved classic field logos at the respective stadiums . In 2001 – 2004 , and again in 2008 and 2010 , the Detroit Lions have worn throwback uniforms based on their very early years . From 2001 to 2003 , Dallas chose to represent the 1990s Cowboys dynasty by wearing the navy " Double - Star " jersey not seen since 1995 . In , the team wore uniforms not seen since . In 2009 , to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the AFL , both Dallas and Oakland played in a " AFL Legacy Game . " In 2013 , the Cowboys intended to wear their 1960s throwbacks , but chose not to do so after the NFL adopted a rule banning alternate helmets during the season ; rather than sport an incomplete throwback look , the Cowboys instead wore their standard blue jerseys at home for the first time since 1963 . Home team controversy . It has remained a tradition for Dallas and Detroit to host the afternoon games dating back several decades . However , in recent years , other teams have expressed interest in hosting Thanksgiving games . Lamar Hunt , the former owner of the Chiefs , lobbied heavily in favor of his team hosting a game on Thanksgiving . When the NFL adopted a third prime time game , the Chiefs were selected as the first team to host such a contest . The host issue came to a head in 2008 , focusing particularly on the winless Lions . Going into the game , Detroit had lost their last four Thanksgiving games , and opinions amongst the media had suggested removing Detroit and replacing them with a more attractive matchup . The team also required an extension to prevent a local television blackout . The Lions were routed by Tennessee 47 – 10 , en route to the team ' s 0 – 16 season . NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that the Lions would stay on Thanksgiving for 2009 season , but kept the issue open to revisit in the future . Conversely , the Dallas Cowboys , which typically has a larger television draw , have had much fewer public calls to be replaced on Thanksgiving . One issue that has been debated is a perceived unfair advantage of playing at home on Thanksgiving . With the introduction of the prime time game , which effectively allows all teams in the league an opportunity to play on Thanksgiving , the calls for Detroit and Dallas to be removed have curtailed . Thanksgiving Day standings . " Of current NFL franchises . This includes American Football League and All - America Football Conference games . " Notable appearance droughts . The last two current active franchises to have never played on Thanksgiving through are Carolina and Jacksonville , both of which joined the league in . The Browns have not appeared since the rejoining the league as an expansion team in 1999 , and the Rams have not played since 1975 . An idiosyncrasy in the NFL ' s current scheduling formula , which has been in effect since 2002 and revised in 2010 , effectively precludes teams from the AFC North from playing the Lions or Cowboys on Thanksgiving . Conversely , the AFC East actually appears in successive years . Without further revisions or exceptions to the formula , AFC North teams can only appear in the prime time game . San Diego has the longest active appearance drought as of 2013 . They have not played on Thanksgiving since 1969 , one year before the AFL – NFL merger . Since 2010 , the league has made efforts to end the longest droughts . Tampa Bay , New Orleans , Cincinnati , and Baltimore all played their first Thanksgiving game during this time frame , as did Houston , who joined the league in 2002 . San Francisco likewise played their first Thanksgiving game since 1972 in the 2011 season . Game MVPs . Since 1989 , informal and sometimes lighthearted MVP awards have been issued by the networks broadcasting the respective games . Running back Emmitt Smith holds the record for most Thanksgiving MVPs with five ( 1990 , 1992 , 1994 , 1996 and 2002 ) . Voting on the respective awards is typically done informally by the announcing crew themselves , and criteria is loose . Noteworthy statistical accomplishments weigh heavily , and " group " awards are common . Turkey Leg Award ( CBS & FOX ) . In , John Madden of CBS awarded the first " Turkey Leg Award , " for the game ' s most valuable player . Pursuant to its name , it was an actual cooked turkey leg , and players typically took a celebratory bite out of the leg for the cameras during post - game interviews . Reggie White of the Eagles was the first recipient . The gesture was seen mostly as a humorous gimmick relating to Madden ' s famous multi - legged turkey , cooked and delivered by local restaurant owner Joe Pat Fieseler of Harvey ' s Barbecue ( located less than a mile from Texas Stadium ) . Since then , however , the award has gained subtle notoriety . Madden brought the award to FOX in , and it continued through 2001 . Because of the loose and informal nature of the award , at times it has been awarded to multiple players . On one occasion in 1994 , it was given to players of both teams . Galloping Gobbler ( FOX ) . When John Madden left FOX after 2001 , the network introduced a new award , named the " Galloping Gobbler . " It is represented by a small statue of a silver turkey wearing a football helmet . Unlike the aforementioned " Turkey Leg Award , " the " Galloping Gobbler " is only awarded to one player annually . All - Iron Award ( CBS ) . When the NFL returned to CBS in , they introduced their own award , the " All - Iron Award " , which is , suitably enough , a small silver iron , a reference to Phil Simms ' All - Iron team for toughness . The All - Iron winner also receives a skillet of blackberry cobbler made by Simms ' mother . Typically the trophy is only awarded to one player annually . Occasionally , it has been issued as a " group award " in addition to a single player award . In 2008 , Simms stated it was " too close to call " and named four players to the trophy . Prime time games ( NFLN & NBC ) . When the NFL Network held the right to broadcast the night game from 2007 to 2011 , they gave out the " Pudding Pie Award " for MVPs . The award was an actual pie . In 2009 , NFL Network gave Brandon Marshall a pumpkin pie rather than the chocolate pudding pie of the previous two years . NBC began broadcasting the night game from 2012 onward . Their MVP award is called the " Madden Thanksgiving Player - of - the - Game " , honoring John Madden ( who announced NBC games from 2006 to 2008 ) . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Broadcasting . DuMont was the first network to televise Thanksgiving games in ; CBS took over in , and in , the first ever color television broadcast of an NFL game was the Thanksgiving match between the Lions and the Baltimore Colts . Starting in 2012 , all three broadcast networks with NFL rights will carry one game apiece . The first two games are split between CBS and Fox . These games are rotated annually , with CBS getting the 12 : 30 p . m . ( EST ) " early " game , and Fox getting the 4 : 25 p . m . " late " game in even - numbered years , while Fox likewise gets the " early " game and CBS the " late " game in odd - numbered years . The third game , with a prime time 8 : 30 p . m . start , is carried by NBC . The " NFL on Westwood One Sports " holds national radio broadcast rights to all three games .