Feast on Thanksgiving Football – November 23

Get ready for a full day of Thanksgiving football! Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers and to any others who celebrate something today. One thing you can definitely celebrate is a day full of Thanksgiving football. There are three NFL games on tap as well as one college game, the annual Egg Bowl in Mississippi.

Thanksgiving football is a treat and it has been tradition for a long time. We’ll talk about that momentarily. You can prepare for today’s games by visiting our Thurday Night Football picks page. Today’s schedule kicks off just after noon as the Detroit Lions host the Green Bay Packers. Two more games follow and if you prefer college football, the Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET. So, why do we have all of this Thanksgiving football?

How Thanksgiving Football Became Tradition

The very first football game in America was played Nov. 6, 1869, so there has always been this sort of connection with November and football. By 1876, numerous colleges in the U.S. were playing football. A championship game was held each year. It was held on Thanksgiving. The game became a big deal, drawing 40,000 fans at the old New York Polo Grounds. 

In the 1920s, the NFL was formed. George Richards owned a franchise called the Portsmouth Spartans, which was located in Ohio. He had big visions for his team. He also had an idea that led to the Thanksgiving football tradition.

Richards moved his franchise to a bigger city – Detroit, Michigan. He renamed his team the Lions. His idea was to play a game on Thanksgiving Day when no other NFL teams were playing. Richards owned a radio station and worked out a deal for over 90 different stations to broadcast the game. Thanksgiving football in Detroit was born. With the exception of World War II, the Lions have played every Thanksgiving since.

Thanksgiving Football Comes to Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys were founded in 1960. In 1966, the Cowboys began hosting a Thanksgiving Day game too. In 1975 and 1977, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle decided that the St. Louis Cardinals would host games on Thanksgiving Day. The Cowboys were a much bigger draw, plus they were a perennial contender for championships at the time. 

In 1978, the Cowboys resumed hosting a Thanksgiving football game. Every year since, both Detroit and Dallas have hosted a game on Thanksgiving Day. The broadcasting rights for the games are split between two different networks. In 1970, the idea of an early game and a late game was adopted. The Lions play their Thanksgiving football game in the early afternoon slot and the Cowboys play the late afternoon game.

A Third Thanksgiving Football Game

The Detroit Lions are having their best season in history in 2023. For years, the Lions were one of the worst-performing franchises in the NFL. There were many occasions where the Lions would lose consecutive Thanksgiving football games and go on to finish losing seasons.

Prior to the 2008 Thanksgiving football game, the Lions had lost four straight on Thanksgiving Day and were 0-11 at that point in the season. They lost again and there were some rumblings about replacing the Lions on Thanksgiving. That didn’t happen and one of the reasons why was the addition of a third Thanksgiving football game in 2006.

Since 2006, three Thanksgiving football games have been played. The night game can feature any team in the NFL. It has typically been a division game as is the case tonight. San Francisco will play at Seattle in a battle of the top two teams in the NFC West. 

And that is how we got three NFL Thanksgiving football games.

Cappers Get It Done on Thanksgiving Eve

It was just another top-5 full of Sports Hub experts winning loads of cash on the day before we feast on Thanksgiving football. Ben Miller, Sal Lombardi, James Acker, The Bookie, and Kyle Buchman all kiled it yesterday to finish in the top-5. 

Let’s see how they did it.

• Big Ben strikes cash: Ben Miller is back on many of our leaderboards and is having himself a great month. Yesterday, he went 4-0 and won $410. He had the Canadiens beating Anaheim at +110. Over the last three days, Ben is 8-3 and has totaled $480 in winnings. For the month, he’s up $1269.
• Sal loves hockey: The only thing Sal Lombardi loves more than hockey is baseball. Since MLB is over, Sal decided to crush the NHL books. Last night, he went 8-4 on 12 picks, mostly NHL, and won $380.
• James is heating up: James Acker went 3-0 yesterday and won $300. That gives him a three-day total of $480. He is 7-2 with his picks over the last three days. James has picks for two of today’s three NFL Thanksgiving games. He also has a pick in already for the Iron Bowl. Visit the member’s area to check them out.
• Bookie and Buchman: The final two of the top-5 were also Sports Hub experts. The Bookie is an absolute machine, especially this week. Yesterday he went 4-1 and took home $290. That gives him $570 for the last three days and a cool $1135 for the week! Kyle Buchman went 2-0 and won $200. He has won 8 of his last 10 picks.

Schedule Full of Thanksgiving Football

Of course, Thanksgiving Day is not complete without America’s game. Nowhere else in the world is the game of football played like it is in the U.S. Today, we are blessed with many things and one of them is the opportunity to watch (and bet on!) Thanksgiving football. Oddsmakers are still busy as there are a few other events today too. The NBA and NHL are off.

Let’s check them out.

• NFL schedule: We’ve mentioned it already, but to clarify…
  • Green Bay at Detroit——12:30 p.m.
  • Washington at Dallas——4:30 p.m.
  • San Francisco at Seattle—8:20 p.m.

• Egg Bowl: We mentioned this as well. It’s a college football rivalry game pitting No. 12 Ole Miss against in-state rival Mississippi State. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
• Soccer: It’s a light world soccer schedule. There are matches in many of the Latin American nations’ pro leagues. There are a few from the other side of the world – India, Indonesia – too.
• College basketball: After days filled with NCAAB games, today there are just 15. There are some great matchups though in these early-season tournaments. The big one features No. 3 Arizona against No. 21 Michigan State.
• 2023 MundoTenis Open: The Round of 16 continues today in Brazil.

Thanksgiving Day Trending News

In true Thanksgiving football fashion, we have some trending news that involves the pigskin. We’ll see what else is out there too. Keep these pieces of trending news in your back pocket. You never know when pulling one out may make you a winner. Just so you know, there are over three dozen picks for today’s Thanksgiving football games in the members’ area.

Here’s our trending news.

1. Turducken coin: The coin toss for all three NFL games today will feature legendary coach and announcer John Madden (heads) on one side and a turducken (tails) on the other. The NFL is celebrating Madden who called 20 Thanksgiving football games.
2. The Egg Bowl won’t be the same: We lost one of the greats in college football last year. Mike Leach gave us so many memories. Here’s one of them talking about Thanksgiving.

3. Purdue wins Maui: 7-foot-4 Zach Edey scored 28 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead No. 2 Purdue to a 78-75 win over No. 4 Marquette in the final of the Maui Invitational. The Boilermakers are a favorite to win March Madness.
4. Playoffs: Green Bay is No. 8 in the NFC playoff picture. A win over the No. 2 Lions would help keep the Packers close to No. 7 Minnesota. The 49ers are No. 3 and the Seahawks No. 6 heading into their game tonight. The only team playing today that is out of the playoff picture is Washington, which is No. 12. Their opponent Dallas is the current third seed.

Once again, Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate. Enjoy the Thanksgiving football and may you be blessed with wins today. Come back tomorrow as we get ready for college football’s rivalry weekend.