By Jake Wolf ’17

Believe it or not, football is just as prevalent to Thanksgiving as the actual food itself. According to television industry website zap2it.com, an average of 28.4 million people in the United States watched each of the three 2014 Thanksgiving NFL games, compared to 17.6 million who watch other games.

Football has become such a large part of Thanksgiving that many people watch the games despite having little interest in the sport. “I watch football on Thanksgiving because my family watches it and I try to get in the loop even if I don’t know what is going on,” junior Tori Rotonda said.

Even though Rotonda does not watch football on a weekly basis, she watches every year on Thanksgiving because of the bond the games help create with her family. Junior Hailey Coldon agrees that Thanksgiving is a good bonding experience, “because you all watch it together as a family.”

Thanksgiving has a long and storied tradition with athletics, and football in particular. According to the NFL Hall of Fame’s website, the first Thanksgiving Day football game was between Yale and Princeton in 1876, and the tradition was adopted by other colleges soon after. In 1892, the first professional players, from leagues less prominent than the NFL, began to get involved in the holiday games. The tradition continued to grow until 1934, when the Detroit Lions of the NFL began to join in. The Lions, along with the Dallas Cowboys, still play on Thanksgiving every year. The NFL has recently added a third game to the Thanksgiving football slate that is not specific to any particular team.

Some families are more passionate about Thanksgiving football than others.

“I probably spend almost all of the day watching football with my family,” sophomore Justin Grey said. Grey still includes the usual Thanksgiving traditions such as the large dinner, but his family emphasizes football as well.

“Of course I watch football on Thanksgiving; I’m American.” Mr. Samuels said. “I eat turkey, sit down and watch football. It’s a great day.” Samuels also believes that football becoming a major tradition during Thanksgiving brings families closer together, because “every household in America gets together and roots against the Cowboys.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, naturally, strongly supports the Thanksgiving Day tradition. “I think it’s important that you have that opportunity to play on Thanksgiving Day and get that national audience,” he said on a conference call to Detroit Lions season ticket holders. It’s part of the tradition that we think is important in the NFL.”

NFL fans are evidently in favor of Thanksgiving Games, as shown by the large  number of viewers for games compared to the usual Sunday games.

Last year’s Thanksgiving football games ended with Seattle Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman eating a turkey leg in the middle of the San Francisco 49ers’ field. Hopefully, this year’s roundup of games between the Panthers and Cowboys, Bears and Packers, and Eagles and Lions can live up to last year’s highly entertaining set of games. America will be watching.