Cowboys Thanksgiving Day History

Turkey Day has always been kind to America's team. The Dallas Cowboys played their first NFL Thanksgiving game in 1966, and have subsequently been a staple on Thanksgiving Day since the late 70s.

Dallas initially decided to host games on Thanksgiving on their own accord; however, they were replaced for a number of years by other teams. But, in 1978, then-commissioner Pete Rozelle offered Dallas an agreement guaranteeing the Cowboys a spot on Thanksgiving Day for the foreseeable future.

In their history, the Cowboys are 31-19-1, proving to have quite a bit of success while playing on the late November holiday.

Understandably, the Cowboys have been involved in some of the more notable Thanksgiving Day games to have occurred. One of them was in 1974, when Roger Staubach was injured, and backup Clint Longley rallied the team to a 24-23 win over the Redskins.

On the opposite side of the coin, the Cowboys also suffered one of the most memorable losses on Thanksgiving Day for the wrong reasons, as defensive tackle Leon Lett made one of the biggest blunders in regular season history in 1993.

Lett infamously tried to recover a blocked field goal and instead knocked the ball into the Dolphins endzone, allowing them to retake the kick and successfully convert the field goal.

The Cowboys will hope that there aren't any memories of Leon Lett on the field when they face off against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday.