Thanksgiving, Football and Memories

A few minutes ago I just drove past a location in North St. Louis where on January 1, 1969 I watched a team with the backfield that included Franco Harris – and Lydell Mitchell coached by 43 year old Joe Paterno defeat the Missouri Tigers in the Orange Bowl. The building is now gone, Joe Paterno lives on. That memory gave birth to this thread. With all due respect to Super Bowl Sunday, and New Years Day, no day is organically linked to football more than Thanksgiving. The Super Bowl attracts at a primal level core football fans and tangentially occasional fans, New Years Day games perhaps more tapped into the fabric of society because of the pageantry of the bowl games and that college alumni are stoked. But on thanksgiving, you get folks who are sitting down watching pro football games who spent the day watching their children, or playing a game of touch football and closing the day with close family giving thanks. Football on Thanksgiving is more personal, there is more connective tissue with who we are as Americans with football on the last Thursday in November than any other sport save perhaps baseball on July 4th. My fondest memory of Thanksgiving and Football is Thanksgiving 1971.

The first “Game of the Century” on my watch. This game has been called the Greatest Game ever Played – though the Texas/USC game a few years may push it. – this game featured tow unbeatens - Number 1 Nebraska ( number one in total defense and # 2 in offense) v Number 2 Oklahoma which was # 1 in total offense and # 2 in total defense. Nebraska was led by Jerry Tagge at OB, Jeff Kinney a college version of Ed Podalak and a 70’s version of Jeremy Macklin Heisman winner Johnny Rogers. Nebraska’s defense was led by All Americans Rich Glover; Oklahoma had the Heisman Runner up Greg Pruitt, and wishbone specialist Jack Mildren. The Cornhuskers won on a late touchdown 35-31. The amazing thing was that our family met at my great aunt’s house. The game started early that evening, and went on for some time. As the game was in the balance, I (along with my partner in crime – my mother) held up Thanksgiving Dinner for over 15 folks until the game was in the bank. I never knew I, or football had that much juice.

Questions:

1) What is your best Thanksgiving Football memory?

2) How did you develop loyalties to certain teams –esp. those not based locally?
For example in the 70’s I liked the Steelers, USC, Nebraska, I think for no other reason they were the rivals of teams supported by most of my friends or classmates.

3) What is your first football memory as a fan?

I recall watching the Tigers lose to Penn State, and have memories of the Chiefs beating the Vikings in the Super Bowl, but the first game that I recall having an emotional attachment was the Colts beating the Cowboys in 1971. I think I had read so much about Johnny Unitas, I wanted to see him but he had gotten hurt and didn’t play. I still rooted for Jim O’Brien to make the field goal and still recall John Mackey scoring on the tipped pass. In some ways that game was the end of an era.