It was exactly 56 years ago today and the Dallas Cowboys were trying to copy the Detroit Lions and start the NFL’s second Thanksgiving Day tradition of hosting games.
The opponents for the late afternoon-into-the evening contest on Nov. 24, 1966 before a full house of 75,504 at the Cowboys’ first home, the Cotton Bowl, were the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Browns.
It was a big hit, launching a series that still exists today.
The Browns, who were 7-3, and Cowboys were in a lock-step fight for first place in the conference in the last year before the Eastern and Western conferences were split into two divisions each.
The Cowboys, 30-21 losers in Cleveland a month earlier in the teams’ first meeting, won 26-14 in the rematch, beating the Browns for the second time ever and the first time in nine tries dating back to the end of the 1962 season as Paul Brown was finishing his long tenure as Cleveland’s head coach.
This was the seminal victory in the Cowboys’ rise to power, creating a dynasty that would last for two decades. They went on to edge out the 9-5 Browns to win their first conference title. Cleveland finished tied for second place with Philadelphia, with the Eagles getting the nod to represent the East in the Playoff Bowl, a long-gone game that matched the runner-up teams in both conferences during the 1960s.
The Browns have played the Cowboys on Thanksgiving one other time, losing 31-14 in 1982 at Texas Stadium.
Cleveland faced the Lions one time on Thanksgiving, falling 13-10 in 1989 at the Pontiac Silverdome.
In their early days in the All-America Football Conference three-quarters of a century ago, the Browns played three straight seasons on the road on Thanksgiving, beating the Los Angeles Dons 27-17 in 1947 and 31-14 in 1948, and then downing the Chicago Hornets 14-6 in 1949 in their last regular-season game ever in the AAFC before it disbanded and they moved to the NFL.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!!!
Steve King
Nov. 22, 2022
Browns sign C Greg Mancz, place C Ethan Pocic on IR
BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have signed C Greg Mancz (pronounced: MANTS) and placed C Ethan Pocic (knee) on injured reserve. In addition, the team signed S Bubba Bolden and T Will Holden to the practice squad and released C Jordan Meredith from the practice squad
Mancz (6-4, 310) is a seventh-year player out of Toledo. He was originally signed by the Texans as undrafted free agent in 2015. Over the course of his career, he has started 32 of his 64 games with the Texans (2015-20), Dolphins (2021) and Bills (2022). He appeared in one game with the Bills this season and spent time on their practice squad. Mancz is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and will wear No. 65.
Pocic started the first 10 games of the season. He sustained a knee injury in the first quarter against the Bills.
Bolden (6-2, 200) is an undrafted rookie, who was initially signed by the Seahawks. The Miami (Fla.) product had 127 tackles (10 for loss) two sacks, six pass defelections and five forced fumbles during his Miami tenure from 2019-21. Before transferring to Miami, he spent two years at the University of Southern California. Boldin is a native of Las Vegas, Nev.
Holden is 6-7, 312 pounds and entered the league as a fifth-round pick by Cardinals in 2017 out of Vanderbilt. He has played in 27 career games with nine starts for Arizona (2017-18), Baltimore (2020), Indianapolis (2020) and Detroit (2021). Holden’s nine starts include four at left tackle, two at right tackle, one at left guard and two as an extra lineman. This season, Holden has spent time on the Giants’ practice squad. He is a native of Green Cove Springs, Fla.
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