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The Green Bay Packers’ victory over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day 2021 left fans scratching their heads. According to tradition, the winning team’s MVP gets presented with a turkey leg after the game. But quarterback Jordan Love, despite his standout performance, was denied his prize. What happened to the Packers’ turkey?
This post-game turkey leg award was popularized in the late 1980s by legendary commentator John Madden It became an iconic way to celebrate Thanksgiving NFL wins, But it’s not an official league rule – networks and teams have applied the tradition sporadically over the years,
So why didn’t the Packers get a turkey leg on FOX this year? As a lifelong cheesehead, I decided to investigate this mystery. Here’s the inside scoop on the Turkey Gate scandal, the history of NFL poultry, and whether players actually eat those dramatic drumsticks.
A Brief History of Thanksgiving Turkey Legs in the NFL
Thanksgiving football and turkey have gone hand-in-hand since 1989, when Pat Summerall and John Madden of CBS awarded the first post-game poultry prize. It started as a fun way to merge the holiday with sports. The turkey leg was presented on-air to a standout player on the winning team.
This quirky custom caught on through the 1990s and 2000s. Other networks joined in, making turkey legs a Thanksgiving staple. Players started faking chomps on giant prop legs during celebrations.
But there’s never been an NFL rule requiring legs It’s an informal tradition started by broadcasters Since Madden’s 2001 retirement, presentation has been inconsistent between networks.
The Turkey Gate Scandal of 2021
Last Thanksgiving, Jordan Love led the Packers to triumph over the Lions. It was a breakout game for the young quarterback.
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Players sounded off this week on last season’s Thanksgiving turkey leg drama
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This Thursday the Green Bay Packers will welcome the Miami Dolphins to Lambeau Field for a Thanksgiving night showdown on NBC. This will be the second year in a row the Packers play on Thanksgiving after they beat the Detroit Lions 29-22 last season. While it was a great win for the Packers, it will also be remembered as the day that Jordan Love was denied his turkey leg.
The turkey leg has become an NFL Thanksgiving tradition over the years thanks to the late John Madden and his Turkey Leg Award that was started in 1989. It’s been renamed over the years and is now known as the Madden Player of the Game and is awarded to the MVPs of the winning teams of the Thanksgiving games. The players receive a $10,000 donation in their name to a youth or high school football program of their choice and are presented post-game with a turkey feast to chow down and revel in their spoils…however, no revels were to be had for Jordan Love last Thanksgiving.
Love, who was awarded the Madden Player of the Game, did not get a turkey leg after the win. Instead, FOX sideline reporter Erin Andrews noted in the post-game interview that he’d just be getting the donation made on his behalf. The other teams that won last Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, were given post-game turkeys leaving the Packers as the odd team out. And no one really seems to know why.
Fans noticed immediately and it led to memes, conspiracy theories, and Packers running back AJ Dillon even started selling “Turkey Gate” t-shirts. There was so much uproar that former NFL tight end and current FOX analyst Greg Olsen took to Twitter to defend himself after people accused him of ripping up what should have been Jordan Love’s turducken earlier in the game.
One year later, it seems players haven’t forgotten Turkey Gate. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, tight end Tucker Kraft had some words on the drama after Tuesday’s practice. He called out Olsen for ripping the turducken apart before declaring, “We’ll make sure Jordan gets it this year.”
Kraft wasn’t the only teammate talking about Turkey Gate this week. While chatting on 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee, AJ Dillon brought it up saying that FOX still owes Love for the oversight and that NBC needs to “do it right” this week. “We don’t forget,” he added.
While it is still unclear why FOX had no turkey ready, one can only hope NBC can repair the turkey leg-shaped hole that’s been left in the team’s collective stomach. But before that can happen, the Packers gotta take care of business against an ascending Dolphins team in the lights on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.
The reason the Packers MVP didn’t get a turkey! #shorts #nfl #thanksgiving
FAQ
Did Greg Olsen eat Jordan Loves turkey?
“PSA- I did NOT eat Jordan Love Turducken in the box! That was always for the booth!” Olsen posted on X (formerly Twitter), along with a series of emojis including a crying laughing face, a turkey, a duck, and curiously, a rooster. “Great game and Happy Thanksgiving!
Who got the turkey leg in the Packers game?
Wes, the victory over Miami was only eclipsed when Jordan Love received his prized turkey leg after the game and jogged behind Josh Jacobs who was carrying a huge plate of turkey, mac and cheese, and pie to the locker room for a postgame snack.
How many times have the Packers played Thanksgiving?
The Green Bay Packers might not be one of the NFL’s traditional Thanksgiving teams according to the current league schedule, they were a staple of the holiday way back in the day. The Packers have played a whopping 37 times on Thanksgiving in their history, tied with the Bears for third all-time in league history.
What happened to the Packers’ Thanksgiving turkey?
The Packers’ Thanksgiving turkey was sent to a Brown County reforestation camp and was even ‘pardoned’ by Thompson, who was the governor at the time, a couple weeks before Thanksgiving as the incident gained a lot of attention. When will the segment about the Packers turkey air on ESPN’s ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’?
Did Packers fans send a Turkey onto the field?
During Week 11 of the 1988 NFL season, the Packers were playing the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts were close to scoring during the first half when Packer fans sent a turkey onto the field. The announcer laughed and said, ‘There’s a turkey on the field. Packer fans trying to gobble up a win have sent a turkey onto the field.’
How did the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving?
In the first game on Thanksgiving, the Green Bay Packers stunned the Detroit Lions 29-22. Green Bay and Detroit both scored touchdowns on their first possessions of the game, but turnovers ended up being costly for the Lions.
Did the Cowboys spit a turkey leg in a Salvation Army donation container?
And the team deserved to spit in on the Lions field Greg Olsen finger banged the Fox turducken in the studio, and later the Cowboys hid a turkey leg in the Salvation Army donation container for Dak to get a primetime turkey bite on camera. Jerry been doing some scheming here.
Did Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love get a DIB?
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love did not receive a turkey leg after the Packers defeated the Detroit Lions 29-22 on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit.
Did the Colts eat a Turkey at Lambeau Field in 1988?
In 2016, the Colts Twitter account recalled the turkey incident at a Packers-Colts game at Lambeau Field, where the Colts reportedly ate a turkey. However, the 53,000 fans at Lambeau Field that day in 1988 might not remember much about the play on the field. Instead, the turkey might have been the most they cheered all season.