The Browns haven’t played on Thanksgiving much over the years since coming into the NFL from the All-America Football Conference in 1950.
In fact, it’s been just three times, but the first one was historic.
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Every year from 1934-65, the Detroit Lions had hosted the only Thanksgiving game in the NFL. By the time the game, which was televised to the entire country, was over in mid-afternoon, there was no more football to watch until the remainder of the games were played that Sunday.
That seemed way too long to wait between games, so league officials, using the same kind of forward thinking, especially when it came to TV, that would bring Super Bowl I on Jan. 15, 1967, decided to play a nationally-televised late-afternoon game for the first time in 1966. Dallas agreed to host it, and the Browns were thrust into the spotlight as the opponent for the Cowboys.
The Browns were a marquee team then, having been to the NFL Championship Game in both of previous two seasons, including in 1964 when they captured the title.
The Cowboys had never been in the playoffs in their short existence, but they were definitely getting better, losing to the Browns twice in 1965 by just 23-17 and 24-17. Officials guessed that the improvement would continue, and they were right, as the teams entered the Nov. 24, 1966 game in a virtual dead heat atop the Eastern Conference with the 7-2-1 Cowboys leading the 7-3 Browns by just a half-game. The Browns had won the teams’ first meeting, 30-21, five games earlier at Cleveland. So, the TV people got the great matchup, at least on paper, that they craved.
The Browns led 14-13 at halftime on Leroy Kelly’s one-yard touchdown run and Frank Ryan’s 16-yard scoring pass to running back Ernie Green, but it was all Cowboys in the second half as they won 26-14 before 75,504, which still stands as the largest crowd they ever played before at their first home, the Cotton Bowl.
That increased the Cowboys’ lead over the Browns to 1-1/2 games and they went on to win the East at 10-3-1, 2-1/2 games ahead of Cleveland and the Philadelphia Eagles, who tied for second place at 9-5.
The game was a TV ratings hit, which led to the league deciding to give the Cowboys the second game on Thanksgiving nearly every year since, including in the strike-shortened season of 1982 when they beat the Browns again, 31-14. They will host the Kansas City Chiefs late Thursday afternoon in what is expected to be the most-watched of the league’s three games on the day.
So, then, just like they did in 1970 when they hosted the first Monday Night Football game, the Browns in 1966 were part of starting what is now a TV staple for the NFL.
The third time in the modern era that the Browns played on Thanksgiving was in 1989 in Detroit when they were upset 13-10 by the Lions.
Back in their All-America Football Conference days from 1946-49, the Browns played on Thanksgiving the last three seasons, all on the road, defeating the Los Angeles Dons 27-17 in 1947, the San Francisco 49ers 31-28 in 1948 and then the Chicago Hornets 14-6 in 1949 in what turned out to be their final regular-season game in that league.
With that, then, since all of the AAFC records have been incorporated into the NFL, the Browns are officially 3-3 all-time on Thanksgiving.
Steve King
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NFL: Packers at Lions
1 p.m. ET on Fox
An important game in the crowded NFC North, which has swapped last year’s Vikings for this year’s Bears in a battle of good teams. Winner moves into a tie in the wins column with 8-3 Chicago.
NFL: Chiefs at Cowboys
4:30 p.m. ET on CBS/Paramount+
Expect big things from this game following Dallas’ electric comeback win over the Eagles last week and the revival of Kansas City’s late-game magic against the Colts. This is probably the best QB matchup of the holiday weekend, too.
NCAAF: Navy at Memphis
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
There’s plenty on the line in this non-NFL Thanksgiving game. A Navy win puts it in prime position to make the American Conference title game, while a loss almost certainly eliminates the Midshipmen. The American winner could earn the Group of 5’s only Playoff spot.
NFL: Bengals at Ravens
8:20 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock
Cincinnati’s season is likely done, but Joe Burrow returns to the lineup with a chance to spoil Baltimore’s long road back to be a factor.
