A New Thanksgiving Tradition in Philly?
It’s time to set a few new Philly traditions right after Thanksgiving. But it will be the first time that the Philadelphia Eagles have ever played a game on the day after Thanksgiving.
And they already have a plan to be dressed for success.
This Friday, the Eagles will don black pants, jerseys, and those black-winged helmets that count as the third alternate under recent NFL rules. Jalen Hurts will even be wearing cleats designed by patients at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
It’s a fitting fashion statement against the Bears , who have black home jerseys and uniforms.
Thanksgiving football has been a part of Philadelphia’s history for a long time.
Thanksgiving Football took a new meaning when Henry Holman and his 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets went 14–1–1 and won Philadelphia’s first NFL Championship. Homan wasn’t just talented; he was clutch in late-game situations. As one of the most popular players on the Yellow Jackets, Homan scored a pivotal late touchdown in 1926 during a 1920s Thanksgiving Day tradition against the Green Bay Packers.
With George Halas’ Chicago Bears right on Frankford’s heels with twelve wins. After the Bears lost 7–6 at Frankford Stadium on December 4th (thanks to another late 27-yard score by Homan), Chicago tied the Green Bay Packers 3–3 in the last game of the season. Back in Philadelphia, Frankford also ended the 1926 season with a tie against the Pottsville Maroons, 0–0. A short time after, the NFL awarded Frankford the 1926 NFL Championship.
The record of the Yellow Jackets’ fourteen-win season wasn’t broken until the San Fransico 49ers and Roger Craig, Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice, and Joe Montana did it in 1984 — just two years after John Madden started calling Thanksgiving Games in 1982.
And what other special meaning does this Friday have for Philadelphia? In three of the last four seasons when the Eagles played on Friday, they were World Champions.
The last one was just last year.
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