NFL Office Changes Thanksgiving 'Faith, Family, Football' Expression By Excluding Faith
The NFL is very excited about Thanksgiving Day because it is a day of national celebration, feasting and, of course, professional football from noon to night.
So, with three games on the schedule again in 2023, happy Thanksgiving from the NFL:
"Early happy Thanksgiving," NFL executive vice president for communications, public affairs and policy Jeff Miller wished reporters on a conference call on Tuesday. "For those of us here at the NFL that, of course, means friends, family, food, and most importantly, football."
NFL executive vice president for media distribution Hans Schroeder also sent his well wishes.
"Just to echo Jeff, first and foremost, happy turkey day," Schroeder said. "I hope everybody gets a chance to be with friends, family and watch a lot of football."
And later on the conference call Schroeder added:
"Football and Thanksgiving have really become about family, food, friends and football ..."
PITTSBURGH - The San Francisco 49ers pray in the locker room before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on September 10. The 49ers defeated the Steelers 30-7. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
NFL Office Removes Faith From Thanksgiving
That's great. But that's a different message than what the NFL has traditionally sent. It is certainly a departure from what Thanksgiving at its core is about.
Once upon a time football players, coaches and even members of ownership made a point of saying the NFL was generally about "faith, family, and football."
That was the phrase. It wasn't memorialized in any rule book or league handbook. But the message was unwavering among a large portion of league people.
"Think of only three things," Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said, "your God, your family, and the Green Bay Packers -- in that order.”
Players of both teams kneel and pray after the NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots at the Deutsche Bank Park in Germany, on November 12. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
Faith, Family And Football Used To Be Embraced
Lombardi is said to have considered entering the priesthood but became one of the NFL's iconic figures instead. The Packers, forever Lombardi's Packers, play the Detroit Lions at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
And the Packers to this day do not shy away from publicizing their connection to the "Faith, Family, Football" credo.
Neither do the Jacksonville Jaguars, who this year celebrated an entire night of it with Pro Football Hall of Famers Tony Boselli and Tony Dungy.
The Tennessee Titans celebrate a faith and football day. So do the Indianapolis Colts. The Buccaneers host a faith and football flag football tournament.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame, admittedly not part of the NFL but obviously tied to the league, this year put on a Faith, Family and Football concert:
Super Bowl Champs About Faith, Family, Football
And the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas Chiefs were basically built on the tenet of faith, family and football, starting with founder Lamar Hunt, who famously named the league's championship game the Super Bowl.
"In terms of priorities, it's faith, family, and football -- in that order," club chairman and CEO Clark Hunt told FOXNews after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII.
"Its something we believe as an organization. We’re blessed to have a chapel service for our fans on game days. We have a great chaplain for the team who does so much to grow the players spiritually."
The infinity of cyberspace not withstanding, there isn't enough space here to show examples of NFL players, coaches and others citing faith, family and football as their driving forces.
So at the club level, and certainly among individuals, faith is still embraced. And in the past, the league hasn't avoided recognizing that.
KANSAS CITY, MO - Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs prays prior to kickoff in the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys at Arrowhead Stadium on November 21. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
NFL Office Used To Include Faith
When New York Giants owner Wellington Mara died in 2005, then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue spoke of how Mara's faith was one of the guiding principles on how he conducted NFL business.
"You could never shake him at all when it came to the foundations of the game, the integrity of the game, and the focus on the fans and on the players and the people playing the game on the field," Tagliabue said. "He was deeply religious. It was one of the great parts of his character. His love for his family and his faith in the Lord certainly characterized his life."
So, in short, faith, family and football has previously had a strong, inarguable bond to the NFL
Now, perhaps, the league is trying to weaken that bond from the league office. Perhaps in an increasingly secular world the league's officials omitting faith is intentional.
INGLEWOOD, CA - Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick gathers with members of the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers for a prayer circle after an NFL regular season game on October 22 at SoFi Stadium. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NFL Doesn't Answer For 'Faith' Omission
That remains unclear because OutKick reached out to Miller via email on Wednesday and asked if faith is no longer a part of Thanksgiving for the NFL. OutKick asked if "friends" and "food" had replaced faith as a Thanksgiving Day tenet at the NFL and, if not, why was faith not mentioned in his statement?
Neither Miller nor anyone at the NFL has responded.
The ironic thing is the same Thanksgiving the NFL so gleefully promotes as a traditional game day was founded on faith.
The holiday in America is patterned on a 1621 celebration in which English colonists known as Pilgrims celebrated with the indigenous Wampanoag people a fruitful harvest that would ensure their survival through their first full winter.
Pilgrim families and the Wampanoag feasted for three days. They played various games requiring athletic ability. And the Pilgrims thanked God, not the food nor their friends, for their blessings.