It's part of a holiday that at its best is built around family and friends and other than the odd early-season college basketball tournament from an exotic location, the sports landscape is pretty spartan other than football.
For all of the great players that have played in the NFL's two (and now three) Thanksgiving games through the years, there is one name that I always think about on Thanksgiving Day above the rest- and that player was hardly a star.
On Thanksgiving Day 1974, your author was a first grader of six years of age and in those six years, had rooted for two different teams in football.
It's funny looking back as in almost all other sports, my teams have mostly stayed intact, but the NFL has changed my loyalties a few times.
As a pre-schooler, I rooted for Dallas as they were on television often, but soon after I began to root for the Redskins as my dad has always been a fan of the Washington teams that he grew up with-the Senators and Redskins.
Even then, I wanted something to share with my dad and I was a Redskins fan (in the NFC) through my home years.
Redskin football and especially Maryland basketball were the two things that my dad and I shared and connected over in my youth.
I've never been an outdoors person, preferring to read my books, play my sports board games and watch television.
My dad isn't like that (other than television) so I had to have subconsciously been looking for something to talk to him about.
When you grew up in the "country" in 1974, there was one event that would bring people that you rarely saw such as friends of my grandfather, neighboring folks, and other family members- "Butchering".
This would mean preparing a cow or pig and by preparing, I'm pretty sure you are following my meaning of what is going on!
Thanksgiving Day back then meant no Black Friday, no people working and no stories open, so it was an event that brought rural communities together because there wasn't any worry about coordinating schedules.
Everyone needed to prepare for the upcoming winter and butchering always needs to be practiced in a narrow window- too hot and you take the risk of meat spoiling during the all-day event, too cold and it can difficult to stay outside in order complete the task at hand, so Thanksgiving weather with a nip in the air, yet not crazy cold, generally falls perfect in its place on the calendar.
From start to finish, this can run from in the morning before the sun rises to place kettles, tables and other work stations to well into the evening when you are wrapping, labeling (I bet my parents had packages labeled "Tenderloin 78" for years in their freezer!) and organizing the massive freezer for the meat to be placed after all the work was completed.
I was hoping that everything would be finished before the Redskins game in Dallas with my dad, a Redskins fan and my uncle, an avowed Cowboys fan ( he's also a Yankees fan. Have you ever noticed how many people that are both Yankees and Cowboys fans) hoping to watch the game as well.
This sets the scene for the late game and in the seventies, there was no divisional rivalry that had the cachet' of Tom Landry's Cowboys and George Allen's Redskins.
There were divisional rivalries, but only the Cowboys and Redskins had the added advantage of both teams being involved in the playoff race every year in the time that would accept only one wild card.
Pittsburgh-Oakland had a big rivalry, but they weren't in the same division, and the Vikings and Rams had the type of rivalry that was alive during the time because they usually matched up in the postseason.
Minnesota and Los Angeles were placed into weak divisions and they almost always won their divisions in a romp.
For reference, Minnesota won the NFC Central every year but one in the 70s (Green Bay 1972), and after San Francisco won the first three NFC West titles in the decade, it was the Rams winning every championship thereafter.
From 1973-1977, when the NFL moved to the sixteen games and two wild card format, other than the Cardinals, who replaced Dallas in 1974 and Washington in 1975, the NFC playoff teams were the same four- Dallas, Washington, Los Angeles, and Minnesota.
Only the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry could claim that both teams would play each other at home and that often those games decided the division championship and playoff berth.
The 1974 season saw a change for the Dallas Cowboys, who were starting the transition from the Bob Lilly era to the Randy White (White would be drafted in 1975) era on defense and were moving to the passing game on offense as Tom Landry resurrected the shotgun formation to make up for an injured and soon to be WFL bound Calvin Hill and an aging Walt Garrison at running back.
The Cowboys started the season 1-4 but entered Thanksgiving at 6-5 as only a 28-21 loss in Washington blemished their record and after a week six trade of veteran quarterback Craig Morton (a Forgotten Superstars alum) to the Giants for a 1975 first-rounder (That would be used on Randy White), the Cowboys were rising, even if their rally would prove to be too late to save a playoff streak that dated back to 1965.
Washington entered the game 8-3 and one game behind the surprising St.Louis Cardinals in the NFC East.
That one game lead was really a two-game margin as two of the Redskins three losses were to St.Louis, so in the event of a tie, the Cardinals held the tie-breaker.
Washington was trying to get by with a running back by committee approach as only two years after Larry Brown had won the NFC MVP, the high workload of Brown had worn him out and he would average a tiny 2.6 yards per carry in 1974.
The first half saw four field goals as all of the scoring would be credited to the kickers- three of those by Washington's Mark Moseley and the other by Dallas kicker Efren Herrera for a 9-3 halftime lead.
After the half, Washington moved to a 16-3 lead after a name from Cowboy past (and another Forgotten Superstar from the past) Duane Thomas grabbed a Billy Kilmer screen pass and scored from nine yards out.
Dallas would then lose Roger Staubach to a concussion as Diron Talbert drove Staubach out of the game as Talbert had predicted that he would do in the week before the game and the only backup passer available was rookie Clint Longley after the trade of Craig Morton to the Giants.
Longley had entered the supplemental draft before the 1974 season, was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals before being traded to Dallas for a fifth-rounder in the 1975 draft, so his entry into the game was the first of Longley's career.
Longley quickly led a five-play drive that was finished by a 35-yard pass to tight end Billy Joe Dupree for the first Dallas touchdown of the day and trimmed the score to 16-10.
The Cowboys held Washington and on the next Cowboys possession, Dallas moved seventy yards and took a 17-14 lead into the final quarter on a one-yard Walt Garrison dive.
In the fourth quarter, it was the Redskins that rallied to take the lead on another Duane Thomas touchdown, this one a nineteen yard scamper into the corner of the end zone and on the next Dallas drive, a fumble gave Washington possession in Dallas territory with a chance to move their lead to two possessions, but Ed "Too Tall" Jones deflected Mark Moseley's field goal try to maintain the Washington lead at 23-17.
Longley again began to move Dallas down the field for the winning score, but after Longley completed a pass to Drew Pearson to the Washington 25, Pearson would fumble and the Redskins could clinch the game with a first down.
The "Doomsday" defense wouldn't allow that as after three plays. three Dallas timeouts and a Washington punt left the Cowboys without a timeout and 1;45 to remaining.
After a fourth-down conversion, Dallas held the ball at midfield with 35 seconds to go, Longley threw a bomb down the middle of the field, splitting the Redskins secondary and Drew Pearson grabbed it for the game-winner for the Cowboys, 24-23.
That game was the high point for Clint Longley, who would only throw a handful of passes for Dallas in 1975 and another cameo for the Chargers in 1976 after Longley was traded to San Diego.
Longley was traded to the Chargers after losing a fight to Roger Staubach in training camp and following that up by giving Staubach a black eye as Staubach had his arms raised as he put his shoulder pads on.
Longley ran to his car after popping Staubach and was suspended before the trade to the Chargers.
How did things finish?
Dallas would split their final two games to finish 8-6 and out of the playoffs.
Washington would win their two remaining games to finish 10-4, which would finish them in a tie for first with the Cardinals, who lost two of their final three to complete the season with the same record, but those two Cardinals victories would cost Washington the division via the tiebreaker.
Had the Redskins survived and won the "Longley game". they would have won the division and hosted the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs.
Instead, the wild card Redskins would go on the road and lose in Los Angeles to the Rams 19-10.
How does all of this relate to Thanksgiving and me?
Well, we moved a small portable black and white set to the basement corner with its rabbit ears pointed toward Washington to follow the game as all the work from the day continued around it.
I likely wasn't doing a lot of work, other than occasionally perhaps writing something on the package, and the most valuable thing I was doing was likely keeping my dad and uncle informed on the game.
I remember that basement as being so large at the time to a six-year-old and yet the same basement today seems so snug that I have a hard time believing that seven adults and a six-year-old could function and work there.
With all of that going on, I still remember my uncle cheering for Clint Longley, whom he had likely never heard of two hours before, and my dad groaning as he continued to pack meat in that small and cold basement.
It's funny how we remember things and connect them with friends and family forever through time, even if not every recollection may not be 100 percent perfect
Yet, every Thanksgiving that rolls around and when I think of football, that day with my family is what comes to mind when they show the highlight of that Clint Longley bomb...
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