Let’s Talk Turkey: The greatest Thanksgiving Day NFL moments

There is no holiday more affiliated with the NFL than Thanksgiving. Fans look forward to eating their heart out at the dinner table and in front of the television. While family members will hope for a little more engagement from their football-fanatic relatives this Thanksgiving, they might still be glued to the action in hopes they’ll witness a moment like the ones we’re remembering here.

Dallas blocked a field goal with a few seconds left, but defensive end Leon Lett chased the ball down the field, and eventually touched it. This made the ball live, and the Dolphins picked it up at the one yard line. This allowed Miami to try a second field goal attempt, which they converted to miraculously win the game. Lett’s brain fart comes up every year around this time.

It was already apparent to NFL fans that Moss was going to be a special playmaker in the league for a very long time, but he elevated his status to new heights against Dallas on Thanksgiving. He ended up with an insane stat line of three catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Moss was motivated to show the Cowboys what he could do since they passed on him in the 1998 Draft.

Team captains report to the middle of the field before the game and before overtime begins for a coin toss. However, things went awry during the extra period in a Pittsburgh Steelers-Detroit Lions tilt in 1998. Referee Phil Luckett thought Pittsburgh’s Jerome Bettis called heads, but he called tails, which ended up being the winning side of the toss. Detroit won the game on a field goal.

With the entire country and parts of the world watching, NFL players should be on their best behavior during Thanksgiving games, in theory. However, Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was irate with Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith, shoving his head into the turf multiple times, and then stomping on his chest.

For many decades, the NFL featured two games on Thanksgiving, held in Dallas and Detroit. However, in 2006, the league decided to add a third night game to the slate. In 2012, the New York Jets hosted the New England Patriots, which ended in a blowout win for the road team. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez fumbled the ball running into the posterior of his offensive lineman.

During his Hall of Fame career, Peyton Manning made a lot of teams look helpless, but perhaps his most prominent performance came on Thanksgiving in 2004. He threw six touchdown passes against the Detroit Lions, who weren’t remotely close to slowing down one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time on that day.

The broadcaster synonymous with Thanksgiving football was John Madden, whose enthusiasm and jolliness brought fans closer to the game. He was introduced to turducken, a strategic mix of meat including turkey, duck and chicken in 1996, and would not stop talking about how delicious it was.

The Lions play on Thanksgiving every year, so their stars have a chance to rack up some pretty impressive numbers on the holiday. Running back Barry Sanders was a fixture for them, and had a tremendous day against the Chicago Bears in 1997. He scampered for 167 yards and three touchdowns en route to a 55-20 drubbing of their division rivals.