The Cleveland Browns will be going through a standard practice today while the NFL world is focused on a trio of Thanksgiving Day games.
While NFL officials and their television partners have to be kicking themselves after not having the foresight to schedule the Browns and legendary rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders for one of today’s games, the Browns have rarely played on the holiday.
Cleveland has only played six times on Thanksgiving, with three of those coming in the 1940s. The last time the nation was treated to a Browns game on the holiday came back in 1989, when they faced the Detroit Lions for what was another in a long string of road defeats to the Lions.
The Browns do not have the longest streak without playing a game on Thanksgiving as the Los Angeles Rams have not played on the holiday since a 20-0 victory over the Detroit Lions in 1975. And the Jacksonville Jaguars hold the distinction of being the only current NFL team to have never played on Thanksgiving.
Even with an infrequent history of Thanksgiving Day games, the Browns share a connection with one of the day’s traditions as they faced the Dallas Cowboys in 1966 for the first of what would turn into an annual appearance (save for 1975 and 1977) by the Cowboys.
Tex Schramm, who was general manager in Dallas at the time, thought that playing on the holiday would prove popular with the local fans. The NFL scheduled the Browns and Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl, and a reported attendance of 80,259 saw the Browns come out on the wrong end of a 26-14 final score.
Cleveland had beaten the Cowboys a month earlier, but fate and the windy conditions were not on their side this time. Lou Groza missed two field goals, had another blocked, and the Browns were shut out in the second half. That allowed Dallas quarterback Don Meredith time to lead the Cowboys on three scoring drives to secure the win.
The Browns had 321 yards of offense on the day, led by running back Leroy Kelly’s 115 rushing yards, but quarterback Frank Ryan was sacked five times as the Browns could not find the end zone in the second half.
It was 16 years before the Browns played another Thanksgiving Day game, with a return to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in the strike-shortened season of 1982, which ended in a 31-14 loss for the Browns.
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