NFL Will Honor John Madden Throughout Thanksgiving Day Action

Covering NFL football on Thanksgiving without talking about John Madden would be like having your dinner with no side of mashed potatoes.

Unacceptable in every way.

But on this afternoon of football, prepare to get a double-portion of Madden content.

The broadcasts for the Lions-Packers, Commanders-Cowboys, and 49ers-Seahawks games will each feature some sort of tribute to the Hall-of-Fame coach.  Madden called 20 Thanksgiving football games during his TV career, a duty he never once found burdensome.

“There's no place that I would rather be today on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game,” Madden said during one of his broadcasts.

Few men have impacted professional football in the way John Madden did. (Photo by Jay LaPrete /Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images)

NFL Will Go All-Out To Honor One Of The Game's Greatest Figures

Here’s a list of all the tributes to the late legendary coach that will appear throughout the Thanksgiving broadcasts:

Not only is Madden considered one of the NFL’s greatest coaches and the namesake of the league’s iconic video game, he also made famous the “Turducken” Thanksgiving meal. 

While I could sit here and fumble my way through trying to explain what it is and how to serve it, I’ll let the all-time great do it himself.

Somewhere, Ron Swanson is drooling uncontrollably. Frankly, I am too.

The league made the right call to honor one of the men who made the game so special. May the tributes do justice to his indelible legacy.