This past week, many Americans had the pleasure of being at home to spend Thanksgiving with their families and, of course, enjoy great food. A Thanksgiving tradition for some families is to watch football together. This year, the NFL dedicated the Thanksgiving football games to the late John Madden.
Madden is known to many different people and in many different forms. The Hall of Famer was a Super Bowl-winning coach for the Oakland Raiders. He was a sports commentator for football games for a long time and called games for all the major networks. He also lent his name to the long-running football video game series “Madden NFL.”
Madden was also well-known for his Thanksgiving celebration, helping football become synonymous with the holiday. He started the famous Turducken celebration, during which he would hand out a Turducken to players of the game he commentated. Madden called 20 games on Thanksgiving day throughout his broadcasting career.
This year, the NFL honored Madden by renaming the annual Thanksgiving day football gameday to the “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration.” The players also wore a special decal on their helmets of a picture of Madden, and there was also a special logo of the photo on the fields.
This Thanksgiving’s NFL games were also a huge success for the franchise. The matchup of the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys was the most watched regular season game of all time, with 42 million viewers, according to Fox. This helps show how football has become connected to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Next year, on Thanksgiving and for all the years to follow, the NFL will continue to honor Madden. For fans, he will forever be a symbol of the sport’s special relationship with Thanksgiving.
“There’s no place that I would rather be today on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game. There are just certain things that go together; the Turkey, the Family, the Tradition, Football … and we have it all today.” – John Madden
Editor’s Note: I don’t believe the NFL would be where it is today without the help of John Madden. While I don’t personally remember Madden as an announcer, I, like many others, have still been touched by him. Some of my favorite video games to play growing up were the Madden games, and they helped further my love for the sport of football. All the different aspects of football that he was able to touch is the reason why he is one of the most important people for the success of the NFL. Madden will always be remembered by football fans, and his legacy will never be forgotten.
