Thanksgiving is here, and that can only mean one thing.
There’s a lot of NFL football to watch.
Yeah, families get together and have a big dinner and all that, but football is the real Thanksgiving tradition
Here are the top 10 holiday memories the NFL has provided.
No. 10: O.J. Simpson sets Thanksgiving rushing record (1976)
Huge performances by Hall of Fame running backs have a special place in the Thanksgiving memory bank, and O.J. Simpson topped them all even if it was in a losing effort.
Simpson ran for 273 yards and two touchdowns. Not only did Simpson set a Thanksgiving rushing record that still stands, but he broke his own single-season rushing record, according to BuffaloBills.com.
Apparently, however, the rest of the Bills had turkey and stuffing on their minds because Simpson didn’t get a lot of support and the Lions prevailed 27-14.
This would be ranked higher if the Bills had won this game.
No. 9: Peyton Manning throws six TD passes at Detroit (2004)
Peyton Manning probably didn’t get to carve up a turkey because he was working on this holiday, so instead he carved up the Lions defense and threw six touchdown passes in a 41-9 Colts victory.
Four of those TD passes came in the first half. Had Tony Dungy not pulled Manning late in the third quarter, he might have had more.
The first three touchdowns went to Brandon Stokley and the last three to Marvin Harrison. It was the second of two six-touchdown games in Manning’s career. He threw a career-high seven in the 2013 season opener, a 49-27 win over Baltimore.
It was Manning’s fifth straight game of four or more touchdown passes. He became the first player in league history to accomplish that feat, according to The New York Times, and he went on to throw 49 touchdown passes that season, breaking Dan Marino’s 20-year-old record of 48.
No. 8: Earl Campbell leads Oilers to win in battle of Texas (1979)
Before the Titans moved to Tennessee, they were the Houston Oilers. The most glorious time in Oilers history was the late 1970s, when Hall of Famer Earl Campbell was in his prime.
Campbell ran for 195 yards, third-most all-time on Thanksgiving, to lead the Oilers to a 30-24 win over the Cowboys in a game many saw as a potential Super Bowl preview. Campbell scored on a 61-yard run in the first quarter and a 27-yard run in the third quarter to pull the Oilers to within 21-17.
It turned out that neither team went to the Super Bowl in 1979. The Oilers fell in the AFC championship game at Pittsburgh for the second straight year and the Cowboys were upset at home 21-19 by the Rams, who played in Los Angeles at the time, in the divisional round.
This win at least helped the Oilers get out from under the Cowboys shadow in Texas. Oilers coach Bum Phillips, famous for his 10-gallon hat during a time when coaches weren’t required to wear their team’s logos on the sideline, said that the Cowboys might have been America’s Team but the Oilers were Texas’ team.
No. 7: Barry Sanders leads Lions past Bears (1997)
Since the Lions are a Thanksgiving staple, no Thanksgiving recollection would be complete without a Barry Sanders game.
The Hall of Fame running back’s top Turkey Day performance came in 1997 when he ran for 167 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-20 win over the Bears at the Pontiac Silverdome.
As one-sided as this game turned out to be, it actually was a come-from-behind win for the Lions, who trailed 17-3 in the second quarter. But like tryptophan that puts so many people to sleep after their Thanksgiving meal, it just took Sanders a little while to kick in and have an effect on the Bears.
Sanders ran for just 17 yards before a 40-yard touchdown run pulled the Lions to within 20-17 just before halftime. He ran for 27 more yards on the first possession of the second half, in which the Lions tied it with a field goal. Then the Lions pulled away when Sanders ran for a 25-yard touchdown in third quarter and a 15-yarder in the fourth quarter.
No. 6: Clint Longley rescues Cowboys (1974)
There was a time when the Cowboys could lose their starting quarterback and still win games.
The Cowboys trailed the Redskins 16-3 in the third quarter when Roger Staubach was knocked out of the game with a concussion. That forced rookie Clint Longley into his first live action.
Longley directed the Cowboys to a 17-16 lead before the end of the third quarter, but former Cowboy Duane Thomas ran 19 yards for a touchdown to give the Redskins 23-17 lead.
But Longley wasn’t done. He etched his name into the Cowboys’ illustrious history with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson with 35 seconds left, and the Cowboys held on for the win.
That was as good as it would get for Longley. He lasted just three years in the NFL, only two of them with the Cowboys. He was traded to San Diego in 1976 after punching Roger Staubach during training camp.
So Geno Smith has something in common with a Hall of Fame quarterback.
No. 5: Randy Moss burns Cowboys (1998)
Three catches. Three touchdowns.
If anyone in America didn’t know how good Randy Moss was, they found out in this game.
Moss, who eventually would be the Offensive Rookie of the Year, caught three passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns from Randall Cunningham in the Vikings’ 46-36 victory over the Cowboys.
The first touchdown, for 51 yards, came on the game’s fourth play. The next one, for 56 yards, increased the Vikings’ lead to 21-6 before the first quarter was over. The final one, also for 56 yards, made it 39-22 late in the third quarter.
Moss’ 54.33 yards per reception stood as a personal best throughout a 14-year career in which he caught 156 touchdown passes (second all-time) and amassed 15,929 receiving yards (third all-time).
No. 4: Footgate (2013)
The Steelers have only played on Thanksgiving twice in the last 17 years, but both games have been memorable in unprecedented ways.
The Ravens led the Steelers 13-7 in the third quarter when Jacoby Jones, who has returned five kickoffs for touchdowns in his career, took a kickoff and found an opening down the left sideline. He was on his way to a touchdown, but he had to change direction ever so slightly because Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s foot was on the field. That allowed Cortez Allen to run Jones down and prevent the touchdown.
Tomlin’s back was turned, so he didn’t see Jones coming until it was too late. Instead of a touchdown, Jones had a 73-yard return to the Steelers’ 27 and the Ravens eventually kicked a field goal.
The Ravens went on to beat their AFC North rivals 22-20 and Tomlin was fined $100,000.
Now that Jones is a Steeler, he and Tomlin can laugh about all this.
No. 3: The Coin Flip (1998)
Jerome Bettis accomplished a lot in his Hall of Fame career, but one thing the Steelers running back couldn’t do was invent a word that sounded like both “heads” and “tails.”
The Steelers and Lions were tied 16-16 after regulation. Referee Phil Luckett flipped the coin at the start of overtime, it came up tails and the Lions won the toss.
Bettis said he called tails. “No you didn’t,” Luckett appeared to be saying. The Lions took the ball on the opening possession of the extra period and Jason Hanson won it with a 42-yard field goal.
Luckett was vilified all over western Pennsylvania for what was perceived as a botched coin flip, but as the years went on it’s become more apparent that The Bus was trying to full a fast one.
No. 2: The Butt Fumble (2012)
The addition of prime time Thanksgiving games has been a breeding ground for some of the more infamous Turkey Day memories.
The Jets already were trailing the Patriots 14-0 at home early in the second quarter when Mark Sanchez attempted to run the ball. It looked like Sanchez wanted to hand off to Lex Hilliard, but the fullback ran right by him and started blocking. Or maybe Sanchez just wished he had handed off to Hilliard. Whatever play was called, it looked like it broke down pretty quickly, so Sanchez took off.
Unfortunately, Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork was winning his battle with guard Brandon Moore and pushed him right into Sanchez’ path. It was the perfect storm for slapstick comedy. Sanchez ran right into Moore’s backside and fumbled. Steven Gregory picked it up and ran it 32 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 Patriots lead.
Sanchez’s hilarious blunder, as well as Moore’s ample backside, overshadowed a couple of Patriots highlights in that game. It was Gregory’s second fumble recovery in a span of five plays. The first one immediately led to Tom Brady’s 83-yard touchdown pass to Shane Vereen. Also, the Patriots scored 35 points in that second quarter, tied for third most in NFL history. They led 35-3 at halftime and ended up winning 49-19.
It would have been a forgettable game if it weren’t for the Butt Fumble. It’s ranked second because the term “butt fumble” is so ingrained in the NFL lexicon.
No. 1: Leon Lett’s snow blunder (1993)
The Cowboys had the Dolphins beat. They led 14-13 and blocked Pete Stoyanovich’s 41-yard field goal attempt with 15 seconds left. The ball bounced toward the goal line in the snow, but there was nothing the Dolphins could do.
Unless, of course, a Cowboy touched the ball.
And that’s just what Leon Lett did. Three Dolphins hovered over the dead ball when Lett slid through, tried to recover it and made it a live ball. The Dolphins recovered that live ball and Stoyanovich made a chip-shot 19-yarder with three seconds left to win the game 16-14.
This was a more egregious miscue than The Butt Fumble and it had a more direct effect on the game. That’s why Lett’s blunder stands the test of time as the No. 1 Thanksgiving Day memory.
The Cowboys rebounded from that defeat and won their second Super Bowl in a row. Lett always will be identified by this play, but the defensive tackle did make two Pro Bowls in an 11-year career.
And Ed Hochuli is still giving long-winded ruling explanations.