US Trends

which two of these football teams have played every thanksgiving since 1966?

The two NFL teams that have played every Thanksgiving since 1966 are the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.

Who they are

  • The Detroit Lions have a long-standing tradition of hosting a Thanksgiving Day game that dates back to 1934, making them the original staple of the holiday schedule.
  • The Dallas Cowboys were added as a regular Thanksgiving host in 1966 to give the league a second marquee game on the holiday.

Small wrinkle in the streak

  • The Cowboys’ Thanksgiving tradition began in 1966, but they did not host in 1975 and 1977, when the St. Louis Cardinals were given the holiday game instead.
  • Despite those two exceptions, the Lions and Cowboys are widely cited together as the two teams associated with playing every Thanksgiving since 1966 in fan trivia and fun-fact style posts.

So if you see a quiz asking “which two football teams have played every Thanksgiving since 1966?”, the intended answer pair is: Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.