People and Pop Culture
Closing Shot: A Thanksgiving Tradition
Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce ... and the Detroit Lions. A promotion in 1934 put the Motor City’s new team in the spotlight and created a holiday favorite now serving up its 80th edition.
The first Thanksgiving Day game was played Nov. 29, 1934 before a sellout crowd of 26,000, with the Chicago Bears beating the Lions 19-16.AP Images
The 1934 Detroit Lions won their first 10 games and finished 10-3, but the franchise faced an uphill battle to break out as a brand. Their city, their owner and their nickname were all new after radio entrepreneur George A. Richards bought the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans the previous season and moved them north. Adding to the challenge, the 101-win American League champion Tigers dominated Michigan’s pro sports scene.
Looking for an opportunity to boost attendance, Richards suggested a home game against the powerful Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 29. Turkey Day football dates back to the earliest days of college football, but the pro game was still shaky and there was no guarantee Detroiters would upend their holiday for the new team.
But they did, in droves. University of Detroit Stadium sold out 26,000 tickets two weeks in advance — a huge jump over the team’s per-game average of 10,000 to that point — and according to legend, 20,000 more were turned away.
The gate is just part of the story, team historian Bill Keenist says. Richards used his radio industry contacts to convince the entire 94-station NBC radio network to carry the game. It was the first nationally broadcast NFL game, the beginning of turning local traditions into a national pastime.
“For the Lions to be such a part of a wonderful national holiday that is celebrated by all, and to be such a part of the fabric of the holiday, it’s something we don’t take lightly,” Keenist said. “We cherish that honor.”
That first game was a thriller. The eventual Western Division champion Bears scored 12 unanswered points in the second half to win, 19-16, a disappointing end for the fans in attendance. But buoyed by the strong turnout, Richards scheduled the Bears again for Thanksgiving a year later. In 1935, the Lions clinched the Western Division title with a 14-2 victory over Chicago, entrenching the standing Turkey Day appointment. Two weeks later, Detroit defeated the New York Giants to win the NFL championship.
This year’s Lions-Bears game will be the 80th Thanksgiving Day showdown in Detroit (the tradition was suspended from 1939 to 1944). The Cowboys joined the action in 1966, and in 2006, the NFL added a third prime-time game with no set host.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of families that remember watching the Lions on Thanksgiving, and we’re humbled to play that part in the holiday for so many different people,” Keenist said.
First Look podcast, with Turkey Day football at the 13:43 mark:
