December 1, 1996. Iconic Super Bowl-winning-coach-turned-broadcaster John Madden and Pat Summerall are enjoying their 15th season together in the broadcast booth with FOX. The duo are at the Superdome in New Orleans for a regular season matchup between the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints.
Rams wide receiver Isaac Bruce just caught a touchdown pass to give St. Louis a 13-10 lead near the end of the first half. Madden mentions he’s still eating Thanksgiving leftovers but was just introduced to a then-local dish.
“The triducken,” he said.
He corrected himself minutes later following a commercial break at the two-minute warning.
“Here’s my turducken,” he said. “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.”
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Thanks to a New Orleans butcher shop, Madden, who passed away in 2021 at 85, had a new tradition every Thanksgiving to add to a long list of memorable moments on the holiday. Here’s some of Madden’s best Thanksgiving moments over a legendary career:
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1989: The inaugural John Madden Turkey Leg MVP Award
The 1989 Thanksgiving Day games saw the Detroit Lions win 13-10 over the Cleveland Browns in the early game behind Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders’ 189 total yards.
The second game of the day between the Philadelphia Eagles and their rival Dallas Cowboys on CBS featured Summerall and Madden in the booth. The Eagles dominated the Cowboys in a 27-0 rout in what was later known as the “Bounty Bowl,” referring to allegations that the Eagles put a $200 bounty on Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas. Philadelphia had cut the kicker from the team earlier that season.
The Cowboys managed just 191 yards in a dominant display from the Eagles’ defense, especially Hall of Fame defensive lineman Reggie White. He only sacked Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman once but led the Philadelphia defense in the shutout.
For his effort, White earned the first John Madden Turkey Leg MVP Award.
“The Eagles shut out the Cowboys,” Madden explained on the broadcast. “You have a shutout, you have to give it to a defensive guy and I think this is the guy that gets the drumstick award.”
The Turkey Leg MVP Award became a fixture on the CBS Thanksgiving broadcast through 1993. When Madden moved to FOX in 1994, he brought the award with him.
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1994: First Thanksgiving on FOX featuring the turkey leg trophy case
Summerall and Madden moved to FOX in 1994 and called the Cowboys’ game against the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving that season. Midway through the second quarter, a camera crew took viewers to the “Madden Cruiser” where a six-legged turkey was ready for the best players of the game.
Madden, after breaking down the six legs on the turkey, took the opportunity to show viewers what happens to what’s left of the turkey leg awards: the bones are put in a trophy case with the winners’ photograph.
“You wonder where they go,” Madden said. “They keep them in a trophy case in America.”
“One thing’s for sure,” Summerall added. “When Reggie White and his buddies are through with them, they don’t fly away.”
1997: The first Thanksgiving turducken
Summerall and Madden continued to call Thanksgiving games yearly when they moved from CBS to FOX. In 1997, the Lions took on the Chicago Bears and the iconic duo was in the booth once again.
As the Lions built a 41-20 lead in the fourth quarter, the camera cut to Summerall and Madden in the booth. Specifically, the two massive meals behind them: a turducken and Madden’s then-traditional six-legged turkey.
The six-legged turkey became a part of Madden’s games after Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith complained in 1990 that there weren’t enough legs for his linemen. One year later, a barbecue owner in Texas created a six-legged turkey specifically for Madden.
Madden used this lull late in the game to break down how best to carve the turducken.
“You just kinda cut this right down the middle and then you cut sideways and you get a little turkey, a little chicken, and a little duck,” Madden explained.
He then gestured to the other platter featuring the six-legged turkey.
“Now over there, we have the turkey,” Madden said. “You have one leg, two legs, three legs, four legs, five legs, sixth leg, so six of these legs or one of these legs or two of these six legs are going to be given to someone.”
1999: A missing turkey leg to honor Walter Payton
In 1999, Madden and Summerall were in the booth for another game between the Lions and the Bears.
“There’s no place I’d rather be today, on Thanksgiving, than right here, right now, at a football game,” Madden said before the game. “There’s just certain things that go together. The turkey, the family, the tradition, football, and we have it all today.”
With six minutes to go in the third quarter, the broadcast feed went to the six-legged turkey Madden would be awarding after the game to the top players.
But one leg was missing.
“We just have five legs there,” Madden said, circling the turkey on the broadcast. “The first one was taken off in memory of Walter Payton, who just passed away. And his sister Pam asked me if on Thanksgiving day if we would give a turkey leg to Walter Payton. And it’s an honor to dedicate a turkey leg to Walter Payton, one of greatest to ever play.”
Lions quarterback Gus Frerotte, running back Greg Hill, and wide receivers Johnnie Morton and Robert Porcher dug in after the game following the Lions’ 21-17 win over the Bears. Madden left FOX after 2001 and the tradition changed to a trophy called the “Galloping Gobbler”.
John Madden’s Thanksgiving legacy
This week, the three networks broadcasting Thanksgiving games – CBS, FOX, and NBC – will celebrate Madden’s love of Thanksgiving football. The second annual “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration” will select a player of the game from each matchup: the Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions (FOX), Washington Commanders vs. Dallas Cowboys (CBS), and San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks (NBC).
Each player receives a $10,000 check from the NFL Foundation that’ll be given to a high school or youth football program in their honor.
“Madden Hallmarks” will also kick off each game’s broadcast and “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration” stencils will be placed on the sidelines of each game.
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