Legend has it that the first Thanksgiving was held in Plimouth, Massachusetts (they spelled it “Plimouth” back then) with a huge feast, just before the Lions played the Packers in Detroit. Of course, everyone knows that isn’t true, because the first NFL Thanksgiving game was when the Akron Pros beat the Canton Bulldogs in 1920.

The first Lions game was against the Chicago Bears, in 1934, after the Portsmouth, Ohio Spartons relocated to Detroit. The Bears won, on their way to winning the Western Division. (The Lions came back to win the NFL title in 1936, the first of four NFL titles in 1952. 1953 and 1957. They haven’t sniffed a championship since they traded Bobby Layne. Legend has it that as he left for Pittsburgh, Layne said, “Detroit won’t win again for 50 years.”)

This week will be the 68th time the Lions have played the Thanksgiving Day game, the only years missed were during World War II. The Packers have been the guest of the Lions 17 times and the Packers have a dismal 5-11-1 record for this game.

The worst defeat of all was in 1962. Vince Lombardi’s Packers were invincible, compiling a 10-0 record going in but leaving 10-1. Lombardi hated the Thanksgiving Day game, he said it was because of the short week. Everyone else thought it was because the Lions, no matter how crummy of a team they have, always rise up for their special occasion. The league listened to Lombardi and began to rotate other teams into Detroit for the National audience. It is only in the last few years that the rivalry has been recast.

Bart Starr was sacked 11 times that awful Thanksgiving Day in 1962. Bart Starr was sacked 11 times that awful Thanksgiving Day.


Dallas started to horn in on the T-day action in 1966, and the Packers have been a victim in Dallas, too.

Personally, I hate seeing the Packers in the Thanksgiving Day games. I’d rather be enjoying the holiday with my family and feeling more confident about the Packers playing the following Sunday.

This year could be a repeat of the 1962 game. The Packers are going into Detroit with a conference leading 9-1 record. This year, the Lions actually have a respectable team, for the first time in many seasons. They are coming off a disappointing loss, and having been keeping pace with Green Bay all season, they suddenly find themselves three games back of the lead with a chance to narrow the gap this Thursday.

For weeks, I’ve been watching this Green Bay team thinking, they’re not good enough to be 5-1. They’re not good enough to be 6-1. Now they’ve proven they’re good enough to be 9-1 although they still don’t have the respect of the national media. The usual suspects have anointed Dallas as the cream of the NFC crop, although at 9-1, the Packers have the identical record.

The Packers play the Cowboys, in Dallas, on Thursday the 29th and many eyes are already looking at that game to decide which team is truly the elite of the NFC. Until they play, no one really knows.

But the Packers have this little problem in the way - it’s called Ford Field and it’s in downtown Detroit. And there’s the little matter of a pretty good, and pretty desperate, football team that eagerly awaits the chance to knock off their long time nemesis. This is what is referred to as a trap game - a team can get trapped if it looks beyond the current opponent to the following week. (Michigan got trapped by Wisconsin this year, looking beyond the Badgers to Ohio State.)

I’ve got a bad feeling about this game - I always do.

Despite the eerie coincidences (like the teams being lead by two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game) there is one difference between this game and the 1962 game. The Packers let one get away this year. It only takes one play, and the one play where the defense let down allowed the Bears to score a last minute touchdown to steal a game away from the Packers. The Bears own the only blemish on the Packers record this year. Unlike ‘62, however, there is no pressure to remain undefeated.

The Packers may just have the best defense in the league, at least, in the NFC. They have an up and coming offense including a collection of young, but excellent, receivers. In fact, the Packers are the second youngest team in the league, the average age being skewed by that old man playing quarterback like a 22 year old this season.

The point of their youth is this, the Packers have proven themselves to be a very good team. With each play, in each game, the young players move closer to being cagey veterans. They are learning how to win. They could suddenly go from being a good team to being a great team, and with their youth, they could suddenly become a great team.

If they win on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit, and if they win in Dallas a week later, they may well cross that very fine line between good and great.

I predict a victory on Thanksgiving Day, but it will be a hard fought battle and may even require a last minute field goal - or another Brett Favre rainbow bomb to do it again. The Packers cannot be looking past the Lions, though, or they will be eating crow instead of turkey.