EACH year, millions of Americans gear up for the holiday, not just for the feast, but also to watch Thanksgiving football.
This year, the NFL will honor John Madden during three Thanksgiving games in a touching tribute to the legendary coach.
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What is the Thanksgiving Day badge on NFL jerseys?
Six National Football League teams are set to face off during this year's Thanksgiving football lineup.
The Green Bay Packers will take on the Detroit Lions at 12:30 pm ET on Fox, kicking off the Thanksgiving football games.
Later in the afternoon, the Washington Commanders are playing against the Dallas Cowboys at 4:30 pm ET on CBS.
To wrap up the day, the San Francisco 49ers will compete against the Seattle Seahawks at 8:20 pm ET on NBC.
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Every player will have something in common this year – and it's not just a desire to win!
They'll all be wearing jersey patches featuring a John Madden silhouette to honor the legendary player.
Each circular patch has a stitched black background and a bright golden-yellow border, with Madden's silhouette bearing the same shade.
The black-and-gold emblems will be displayed prominently on the front of each team's uniforms.
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Why are players wearing the badges?
The NFL teams will all be wearing the patch to honor the legendary football coach, John Madden.
The coach spent decades not only coaching teams on Thanksgiving but also reporting sports games live as a broadcaster.
This year, the opening coin toss will also play tribute to the football legend.
Madden's silhouette will serve as "heads," while a six-legged turducken on the coin's reverse side will act as "tails."
Madden was known to eat turducken, a dish consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, and then further stuffed into a deboned turkey, during his time in the broadcast booth every Thanksgiving.
As reported by NBC Sports, Madden also "famously awarded turkey legs to the player of the game in the Thanksgiving games he called during his long broadcasting career."
He also served pieces of the chicken, duck, and turkey combo to the holiday's star players.
To further honor Madden, the NFL will have "its broadcast partners choose a player of the game in each of the three games."
Those lucky players might not get Madden's famous turducken, but they will receive a special prize.
Selected star players will receive a $10,000 grant that will go to a high school or youth football program of their choice.
To top off the holiday festivities, the NFL will also air a video during each game that features Madden describing what Thanksgiving meant to him.
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Who was John Madden?
John Madden was an American football player, coach, and sports commentator in the NFL.
He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978.
He led the Raiders to eight playoff appearances, seven division titles, and seven AFL/AFC Championship Game appearances.
He also led the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XI in 1976.
Madden never had a losing season.
To this day, he holds the highest winning percentage among NFL coaches who have coached at least 100 games.
After retiring from coaching, Madden became a broadcaster for NFL games, providing color commentary for games broadcast on Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC.
Between 1979 and 2008, his color commentary earned him 16 Sports Emmy Awards.
Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
He also was a part of the best-selling American football video game of all time, the Madden NFL video game series.
He lent his name, expertise, and commentary to the video game series.
By the end of his broadcasting career, Madden was known for working the annual Thanksgiving day games, awarding a turducken piece or turkey drumstick to players of the winning team after each game.
He retired from broadcasting on April 16, 2009.
Madden passed away on December 28, 2021.
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The NFL is set to honor John Madden during each Thanksgiving lineup for years to come.
They first paid tribute to the football icon in 2022, playing a recording of John Madden before each Thanksgiving game.
