Thanksgiving Day game. Are you able to identify these four victorious players?
How about the year?
In the event you didn’t get your fill of turkey yesterday, here’s a bit extra for you.
Dating back to 1989, John Madden awarded turkey legs to the players of the game following his network’s Thanksgiving Day telecast.
In 1999, the bird was 6-legged (no idea how it walked;-) and was readily devoured by four Detroit Lions who made a 21-point first half hold up in a 21-17 victory over the Chicago Bears. (Boxscore found here.)
The four Lions’ players grabbing a leg are quarterback Gus Frerotte, running back Greg Hill, wide receiver Johnnie Morton, and defensive end Robert Porcher. Beyond Frerotte, who threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns, none really had a breathtakingly great performance but in an otherwise middling season for the Lions (8-8 record and Wild Card loss to the Washington Redskins) it was enough to get some face time with Madden and Pat Summerall.
Madden also put the turducken on the map when he spoke of it during the 1997 Lions-Bears’ Thanksgiving Day tilt. Here’s an oral history of how the turducken rose to prominence from ESPN back in 2021.
“It’s turkey – you got the turkey on the outside. Then you stuff the turkey with the duck, then you stuff the duck with the chicken. ‘Tur’ for turkey. ‘Duck’ for duck. And ‘-en’ for chicken. Then you just mix it all up. I’ve been eating it all day. You can’t beat that. That’s good eating. That’s a turducken. It’s turkey, it’s duck and it’s chicken. All boneless. All stuffed into each other.”
John Madden, after eating his first turducken, December 1, 1996
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo above and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser normally appears each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday. This week we’ll reveal the winner Friday morning.