The National Football League continues to honor and commemorate the late John Madden with the fourth annual John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration on Thursday, Nov. 27.
Madden once said, "There's no place that I would rather be today on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game," and the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration brings together all the things that were important to him -- family, football, food, tradition and fun.
This year's edition of the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration will feature the following elements:
Network partners FOX, CBS and NBC will continue to celebrate Madden's contributions to the game, both on the field and in the broadcast booth, with tributes interspersed throughout each game on Thanksgiving Day. The lineup includes the Green Bay Packers versus the Detroit Lions at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Dallas Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS and the Cincinnati Bengals versus the Baltimore Ravens at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. Live game audio of all three Thanksgiving Day games will be broadcast nationally by Westwood One and SiriusXM. Additionally, the EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast returns with this year's edition streaming exclusively on Peacock complementing the Bengals-Ravens matchup. Blending video game elements and live action, the stream will be an immersive, data-powered live football experience that injects Madden NFL's unique brand elements as animated overlays. New to this year's Madden NFL Cast, the main coverage angle will predominantly come from the hi-sky camera located behind the quarterback -- the view most familiar to Madden gamers.
A special NFL-produced Madden Hallmark will kick off each broadcast, conveying what Thanksgiving meant to him in his own words. The Hallmark can be viewed here.
Each network will select a Madden Thanksgiving MVP who will receive a $10,000 donation from the NFL Foundation to be given to a high school or youth football program in their name, as the topic of youth football was important to Madden. For the second year, each Madden Thanksgiving MVP will be awarded the Madden Thanksgiving MVP trophy, created to honor Madden and celebrate everything the game of football means to the Thanksgiving holiday. The trophy is in the form of a pylon and includes various "Maddenisms" sprinkled throughout, along with visual cues to speak to the holiday theme.
For the second consecutive year, the NFL will benefit the John Madden Foundation by auctioning off game-used items from the three Thanksgiving Day games via NFL Auction, with proceeds supporting the new foundation.
A coin featuring a silhouette of Coach Madden on one side ("Heads") and a six-legged turducken on the reverse side ("Tails") will be used for the coin toss, and a patch featuring a silhouette of Coach Madden will be included on the jersey of each player at all three games. Provided below are images of each game specific coin and the jersey patch:
Packers versus Lions coin here
Chiefs versus Cowboys coin here
Bengals versus Ravens coin here
Jersey patch here
Special John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration stencils will be placed on the sidelines of Ford Field (Detroit), AT&T Stadium (Dallas) and M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore), along with stadium wall panels that include an iconic image of Madden from his coaching days.
The NFL's radio broadcast partners Westwood One and SiriusXM NFL Radio will air Madden and Thanksgiving-related programming leading up to and on Thanksgiving Day.
The NFL's social media handles across several platforms will support John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration with unique content throughout Thanksgiving Day.
NFL Media will support all elements of the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration across programming and platforms leading up to and on Thanksgiving Day, including Good Morning Football and NFL GameDay Morning on NFL Network. John Madden's son Michael Madden will join Good Morning Football as a guest on Thanksgiving Day.
John Madden's longtime agent Sandy Montag will join the *Lots to Say Podcast* with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel to share stories and discuss the importance of Thanksgiving to Madden. Episode will be available on Wednesday, Nov. 26.
The John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration began in 2022 as a way to honor the late icon's indelible legacy.