In the clouds that filled the past season of Lions football, there was still the one moment that all Detroit football fans looked forward to attending or watching on television. For well over a half-century, the Thanksgiving Day game has joined losing as a constant for football in this town. By the recent comments by Commissioner Roger Goodell, the 2008 season may have meant much more than losing games.
For the past decade the Lions have joined the Cowboys in battling the other 30 owners over hosting rights to the Thanksgiving Day game. The temporary compromise came a few years ago when the Chiefs hosted a third game on Turkey Day. Since that third game was introduced, the Lions have been greatly outmatched on national television. These games have drawn many critics and now the voices have grown to a feverish pitch where it seems history means nothing if you can’t win games.
The 2009 season comes with great hope to a city in need of some good news. As fans we can only worry about hosting the game this season. The Lions have coordinators with actual experience. Neither of them are related to Coach Schwartz and they actually have more coaching experience than the head coach. The battle for Thanksgiving will continue well into the future and it seems the only thing that can potentially keep the game in Detroit, would be a successful and popular franchise playing at Ford Field.