NFL to Honor John Madden During Thanksgiving Games

The NFL is set to honor long-time sports broadcaster John Madden during the league’s Thanksgiving broadcasts this year.

The league is set to launch its “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration,” looking back on Madden’s career on the first Thanksgiving after his passing, the New York Post reported.

“No one cared more or contributed more to our game than John Madden,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement, the paper reported. “Honoring his memory and impact on the NFL is important and Thanksgiving Day brings all of the elements significant to John to life — family, football, food and fun.”

The tribute will be celebrated over all three networks, CBS, Fox, and NBC.

A recording of Madden, who worked at each of the league’s partner networks, speaking of his favorite holiday will reportedly kick off the celebration.

“There’s no place that I would rather be today on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game,” Madden said at the Bears-Lions Thanksgiving game in 1997. “There are just certain things that go together: the turkey, the family, the tradition, football. … And we have it all today.”

Starting in 1989, Madden began a tradition of handing turkey legs to winning players during Thanksgiving games, with the Eagle’s Reggie White taking the first one after defeating the Cowboys.

Madden also became the namesake of one of the most popular NFL video games on the market, starting in 1984 and spawning dozens of editions.

The league is set to award a $10,000 donation made to the youth or high school football program of choice in the name of the “Madden Player of the Game” this year.

“John Madden Thanksgiving” logos will also appear on 25-yard lines, and a sticker will be placed on the back of each helmet. The sticker will feature a photo of Madden with his fist in the air.

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