The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys have long hosted games on Thanksgiving Day. Here is why those NFL teams are a vital part of the holiday.

The NFL has scheduled Thanksgiving Day games dating back to the league's founding in 1920. But it became a thing in 1934.

The Detroit Lions shed their laughingstock label over the previous two seasons. They just missed the playoffs in the 2022 season and then nearly reached the first Super Bowl in franchise history last season, winning the NFC North and reaching the conference championship game before squandering a 17-point lead to lose to the San Francisco 49ers.