NFL Thanksgiving Classics celebrate holiday tradition, football memories - NFL.com
Americans gather to enjoy family, food and their favorite sport
NEW YORK (Nov. 14, 2001) — For millions of Americans, Thanksgiving
Day traditions and family gatherings are inextricably linked to NFL football.
From touch football games with family and friends to watching NFL games
with relatives after a traditional feast, these moments intertwine with
the holiday season.
The traditional Thanksgiving Day games played in Detroit and Dallas
will be celebrated as Thanksgiving Classics. In both games, the Dallas
Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers will celebrate
their histories by wearing a uniform worn during an era of each franchise's
past glory.
At 12:30 p.m. ET on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 22), the Lions host the
Packers. Detroit players will sport Lions uniforms worn from 1934-61 with
white pants and silver numerals, plain silver helmets with gray facemasks,
blue jerseys and black belts. Green Bay players will wear the club's 1939
uniforms with canvas-colored pants and belts, plain gold helmets with gray
facemasks, solid white socks, white jerseys with green lettering. Both
teams will wear black shoes, a common thread from football of yesteryear.
The Dallas Cowboys host the Denver Broncos at 4:05 p.m. ET. Dallas
players will wear an adaptation of the traditional double-star jerseys
the Cowboys wore from 1960-66 and 1994. The jersey features a blue torso
with white numerals and sleeves highlighted by a bold white star atop each
shoulder.
Denver will be dressed in its 1986 "Orange Crush" jerseys and royal
blue helmets with a rising Bronco bucking through an orange "D." The Broncos
wore versions of this uniform from 1968-96 and appeared in four Super Bowls
during that span.
The NFL created a festive NFL Thanksgiving Classics logo for on-field,
editorial and television production use. In addition, the Pontiac Silverdome
and Texas Stadium will be decorated with special Thanksgiving Classics
banners and bunting along sidelines and behind end zones. Custom-produced
Thanksgiving Classics goal post pads will adorn the playing fields as well.
In addition, NFL.com will be home to football and Thanksgiving excitement.
Fans can relive their classic Thanksgiving memories in the following NFL.com
features:
• Gridiron archives are combed to produce the NFL's All-Thanksgiving
Team — a team composed of the greatest NFL players to wear a helmet on
this special day.
• Look back at the most significant teams and games that have been
part of Thanksgivings in years past.
• A special retrospective celebrating the 27th Thanksgiving Day game
played at the Pontiac Silverdome.
• In "Fan Audibles," all are encouraged to share their memories and
thoughts about Thanksgiving Day games.
• Learn the favorite Thanksgiving Day recipes of the Dallas Cowboys'
Emmitt Smith and CBS Sports' Phil Simms.
• As part of the NFL's support of eBay's "Auction for America" campaign,
the NFL.com Auction section will offer fans an opportunity to bid on every
Lions Thanksgiving Classic jersey worn in the Detroit-Green Bay Thanksgiving
Day game. All money collected from every bid on NFL.com's "Auction for
America" page will benefit the September 11th Fund, the Twin Towers Fund
and the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund.
• The players' uniforms will accompany a new line of NFL apparel called
NFL Gridiron Classics by Reebok. Worn by coaches and team personnel on
sidelines, NFL Gridiron Classics weave rich NFL team heritage within contemporary
styles and lifestyle fashions.
• Thanksgiving Classics jerseys and Gridiron Classics apparel are available
at the NFL Shop (1-800-NFL-Shop or nflshop.com) as well as Broncos, Cowboys,
Lions and Packers team shops and online stores.
• NFL Shop on NFL.com will offer NFL Gridiron Classics apparel for
all 32 NFL clubs, including leather/wool varsity jackets, crew neck sweatshirts,
headwear and more.
• The Detroit Lions have played more Thanksgiving Day games than any
other NFL team (61) dating back to 1934. The Chicago Bears won that first
Thanksgiving Day classic, 19-16, with a national radio audience listening
to 94 stations carrying the game coast to coast. Both of this season's
Thanksgiving Day games will be watched by more than 20 million Americans
and heard on the Westwood One Radio Network by nearly 15 million fans on
more than 450 affiliates. The broadcast can be heard overseas and on ships
at sea by more than 1 million men and women via the American Forces Radio
Network.
• NFL games have been played annually on Thanksgiving since the 1934
Lions-Bears matchup, except from 1939-44, when the series was interrupted
due to World War II.
Game 1 1935 Detroit Lions vs. 1939 Green Bay Packers
Detroit Lions: 1934-61
The Lions captured their first NFL championship in 1935 against the
New York Giants wearing the same uniforms the club will wear on Thanksgiving
Day. That 1935 Lions team posted a home record of 5-0-1 at the University
of Detroit Stadium under Head Coach Potsy Clark. From 1934-61, numerous
players earned Detroit 16 winning seasons and fortified the Lions' pride.
Stars, such as Pro Football Hall of Famer "Dutch" Clark, Ernie Caddel,
George Christensen, "Ace" Gutowski, Glenn Presnell and "Ox" Emerson, established
pro football in Detroit in these uniforms. The Lions stood atop of the
pro football world as champions with back-to-back titles in 1952 and 1953
and again in 1957. Former Lions' greats like Hall of Famers Bobby Layne,
Jack Christiansen, Yale Lary, Doak Walker, Joe Schmidt and Lou Creekmur
wore the Honolulu Blue and Silver during the team's success in the 1950s.
Green Bay Packers: 1939
Coached by Earl "Curly" Lambeau, the 1939 Packers were the first team
to record a shutout in an NFL championship game by defeating the New York
Giants, 27-0, wearing this season's Thanksgiving Classics uniforms. Led
by Pro Football Hall of Famers Arnie Herber, Clarke Hinkle and Don Hutson,
Green Bay won their final four games of the regular season — all on the
road — to win the Western Division crown. Their shutout championship victory
against New York was the Packers' only title game played in Milwaukee's
State Fair Park. The Packers earned their fifth NFL title in 1939. Today,
Green Bay owns more league championships (12) than any other NFL franchise.
The Chicago Bears have the second-most NFL titles with nine.
Game 2 1994 Dallas Cowboys vs 1986 Denver Broncos
Dallas Cowboys: 1994
A third consecutive NFC East crown and a team record-tying 11 Pro Bowl
players are identified with a brilliant 1994 Cowboys team. Dallas entered
the season as back-to-back Super Bowl champions and posted a superior 12-4
record before losing the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco, 38-28.
Identified by a bold star atop each shoulder pad on their jerseys, the
Cowboys blitzed to an 8-1 start and won the division title by three games
over the New York Giants. Dallas was victorious against Green Bay, 42-31,
on Thanksgiving Day 1994. Emmitt Smith rushed 32 times against the Packers
for 133 yards and two touchdowns while Cowboys starter Jason Garrett (15-26-311-2-1)
and the Packers' Brett Favre (27-40-257-4-0) went head-to-head in an aerial
duel. Smith scored a then NFL-best 22 touchdown on the season and became
the first non-kicker to lead Dallas in scoring (132 points) since Bob Hayes
and Dan Reeves tied with 66 in 1967. Smith also became the first Cowboy
to lead the team in scoring for five consecutive seasons.
Denver Broncos: 1986
In their orange jerseys and royal blue helmets, John Elway and his
1986 Broncos won one of the greatest NFL games ever played — a 23-20 overtime
road victory against the Cleveland Browns — to advance to Super Bowl XXI.
Recording their 17th consecutive sold-out season, the Broncos began the
year 6-0 to tie the best start in team history. Six Broncos were named
to the AFC's Pro Bowl team: center Keith Bishop, Elway, defensive end Rulon
Jones, linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, safety Dennis Smith and running back
Sammy Winder. Although defeated by the New York Giants in the Super Bowl,
39-20, the Broncos had come of age and would be led to four more Super
Bowls by Elway, winning their last two. Denver wore adaptations of this
"Orange Crush" Thanksgiving Classics uniform from 1968-96.
Critique:
Once again, given an opportunity to wear a classic, traditional throwback uniform, the Cowboys' classless organization failed miserably. They never wore those uniforms in 1994 (only the white version a few times), and they put the stars on the FRONT of the shoulders!?! What!!!?!!?!??!! Leave it to the Cowboys to screw up a wonderful opportunity that any other team would relish and take proper advantage of.
The Broncos could have dug a little deeper into their past, as they did in 1994, but at least they had realistic, perfect uniforms from 1986. A fresh look over their hideous current Nike uniforms.
The Packers displayed a nice look with their 1939 unis. Many fans were wondering where the infamous yellow shoulders were, but those were the jerseys of 1937. Still, Green Bay actually went an extra mile in adding gray facemasks, even though there were none in that era. Nice Job.
The little trophy for best uniforms of Thanksgiving 2001 goes to Detroit. How could anyone not love those blue socks and bold numbers. Simple, attractive and functional. How about an email campaigne to change to those unis when the Lions move into Ford Stadium in 2002? Bravo, Detroit! feedback@fans.detroitlions.com