During the telecasts of today’s three Thanksgiving Day NFL games, you will hear any number of times about how hard it is for the teams – both the players and coaches – to come back on Thursday after playing on Sunday.
And each time, I will have to laugh, while in same breath wanting to scream out loud, which I can’t do, obviously, lest my wife drops the turkey and then drops me.
That’s because what these guys are doing is nothing compared to what the Browns did 68 years ago.
It was in 1948 when the Browns, on their way to a perfect 15-0 season and their third consecutive All-America Football Conference championship, won three games in eight days.
Yes, you read that correctly, they won three games – three! – in just eight days – eight.
It had never been done before in pro football, it has never been done since and it will never be done again – ever.
And did I also mention that the Browns did so by playing on opposite coasts?
Or that they did so against their top rivals at the time?
Or that they did it all on the road?
Indeed, it is one of the greatest feats in pro football history.
It all started when the Browns went to New York and topped the Yankees 34-21 on Sunday, Nov. 21 at Yankee Stadium. They had beaten the Yankees in the previous two years’ league title games.
They then traveled across the country and whipped the host Los Angeles Dons 31-14 on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 25, at Memorial Coliseum. The Dons handed the Browns two of their four defeats in the four-year history of the AAFC.
Then, after staying on the West Coast, they edged the San Francisco 49ers 31-28 on Sunday, Nov. 28 at Kezar Stadium. The 49ers, Browns and Baltimore Colts were the three AAFC teams that were absorbed into the NFL when the league disbanded following the 1949 season.
So when you hear the TV announcers today pointing out how hard it is for the teams – the players and coaches – to play on Thursday after having had a game the previous Sunday, perhaps you will also have to laugh and in the same breath want to scream out loud. But don’t do the latter. Please.
In any event, Happy Thanksgiving!
