American football on Thanksgiving

American football is one of the many traditions in American culture that is associated with Thanksgiving Day. Virtually every level of football, from amateur and high school to college and the NFL (and even the CFL on Canadian Thanksgiving), plays football on Thanksgiving.

High school football

High school football games played on Thanksgiving are often called a Turkey Day Game or a Turkey Bowl, although the title varies with each game. Most commonly these games are between high school football rivalries although in many cases, when poor weather requires a shorter season, the game can be the culmination of league play among a high-school league, in which the winners of this game will be the league champions for the year. The custom dates back more than 100 years are particularly prevalent in the Northeast.

In Massachusetts

The oldest high school Turkey Day Game rivalry is in Massachusetts between Needham and Wellesley, dating back to 1882.^{[citation needed]} Currently, Wellesley is leading the rivalry with 58 wins to Needham's 53 with 9 ties in the series. Boston Latin and Boston English have met annually since 1887, the oldest continuous meeting between schools. In Massachusetts, where high school football is not nearly the draw it is in other parts of the country, the Thanksgiving Day game is a long-standing tradition that brings out thousands of alumni and other fans. Virtually every school in the Bay State has a traditional rival and the holiday game is a focal point for all of them, no matter how unsuccessful the regular season may have been.

In Missouri

The "Turkey Day Game" in Missouri between Kirkwood High School and Webster Groves High School had its 100th anniversary in the 2007 game (Kirkwood won 49-7), although not the 100th game, due to several games not played in the early 20th century. The term Turkey Day in both Kirkwood and Webster has grown to encompass not only the football game itself, but the festivities in the week prior to Thanksgiving Day. Both schools participate in extensive activities surrounding Turkey Day during Thanksgiving week. The Friendship Dance is held every year (alternating between Kirkwood and Webster) as a gesture of friendship between the schools. In addition, each grade level at both schools decorate a hallway in a unique theme, and are then judged. At both schools, the activities culminate in respective pep rallies both on the last day of school and the Wednesday night before the game. At both Kirkwood and Webster, there is a bonfire after the Wednesday night pep rally. Drawing thousands of people every year, the game itself has grown in popularity to the likes of the local news and cable broadcasts of the game. As well as being recognized by ESPN, the game has garnered a multi-page exclusive article in Sports Illustrated.

In 1975, when the then-St. Louis Cardinals hosted NFL games on Thanksgiving, the city resisted the move, because the Kirkwood-Webster Groves rivalry had already established itself. The Cardinals gave up on playing Thanksgiving games in 1977 after three games, and the hosting reverted back to the Dallas Cowboys.

In New Hampshire

In southwestern New Hampshire, Keene High School and Monadnock Regional High School have had a rivalry for over 50 years. However, the two schools did not play football against each other from the 1960s until 2005, because of the schools' different sizes and hence sports divisions. In 2005, the two schools agreed to play each other in an annual match called the "Turkey Tussle". The first game was played at Keene High's Alumni Field, with the venue alternating between schools in each succeeding year.

In New York State

Buffalo, New York: The Harvard Cup

In Western New York, Thanksgiving is the day of the annual Harvard Cup, the city of Buffalo's high school football championship game. New York State also holds its statewide high school championships over Thanksgiving weekend.

Fordham Prep vs. Xavier High School

The Xavier/Fordham Prep annual "Turkey Bowl" is the oldest high school football rivalry in New York history. Their very first game against one another took place in the late 1800s when the game was called due to darkness and ended in a tie. Xavier and Fordham Prep used to play many of their famed Thanksgiving Day "Turkey Bowl" Games, at Manhattan's Polo Grounds, until it was demolished following the construction of Shea Stadium in the borough of Queens.

In Maryland

Baltimore City College (City) vs. Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Poly)

In 1889, the game was played between City and Poly, then located on Courtland Street just a short distance from City. This led to one of the longest continuous public high school American football rivalry in the nation.

Calvert Hall vs. Loyola Turkey Bowl 2005

The game is no longer played on Thanksgiving or at the late Memorial Stadium. The series total sits with Poly leading the series 58-53-6.

Calvert Hall College vs. Loyola Blakefield

Calvert Hall College and Loyola Blakefield, two private high schools in Towson, Maryland have an annual football game played on Thanksgiving Day known as the "Turkey Bowl." The 88-year-old tradition is one of the oldest continuous Catholic prep-school football rivalries in the United States. It is broadcast locally on the local ABC affiliate, WMAR 2. The game is currently held in M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens. To date, Loyola has the better Turkey Bowl record at 47-33-8.
Loyola Won easily against Calvert Hall in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Amateur: The Turkey Bowl

An example of an informal "Turkey Bowl" game from Redmond, Washington.

Amateurs have also been known to partake in American football on Thanksgiving. These informal matches are usually known as a Turkey Bowl (although there are some high school football games that also use the name "Turkey Bowl"-- see above). These games are usually disorganized with no officials; they usually roughly follow a flag football, street football or touch football format.

While the games themselves are not generally nationally known, Turkey Bowls hold importance for those who participate and it is not uncommon for rivalries to last for decades. ^[1]. Turkey Bowls are played by a variety of people including college fraternities, volunteer fire departments, and local churches across the country which use the day and the game to have fun, exercise and renew old acquaintances.

College and professional

College and professional games played over Thanksgiving weekend are usually referred to as a Classic.

The Turkey Day Classic, a college football game between Alabama State University and Tuskegee University, has been played on Thanksgiving Day annually since 1924. It is also the oldest black college football classic, since the two colleges first played each other in 1901. Another popular black college football classic played on Thanksgiving weekend is the Bayou Classic between Grambling State University and Southern University, which is held the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Other prominent college football rivalries that take place over Thanksgiving weekend include:

• Ole Miss Rebels vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (the Egg Bowl, held on Thanksgiving night from 1998 to 2003)
• LSU Tigers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (the Battle for the Golden Boot)
• Georgia Bulldogs vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate)
• Colorado Buffaloes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
• Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies (the Lone Star Showdown)
• Florida Gators vs. Florida State Seminoles (the Sunshine Showdown)
• Pittsburgh Panthers vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (the Backyard Brawl, beginning 2008)

In the NFL, the league has played regularly on Thanksgiving since its inception. The Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions usually play home games on Thanksgiving (and have done so since the 1960s and 1930s, respectively), in a series called the Thanksgiving Classic. The rival American Football League also played on Thanksgiving in the 1960s.

In the CFL, where games are played on Canadian Thanksgiving, the CFL hosts two games (one of only two weeks each year in which the CFL plays on a Monday) in a matter similar to the Labour Day Classic. The difference between the Thanksgiving and Labor Day games is that the Thanksgiving Day games do not have the same matchups each year.