November 22, 1962: The Detroit Lions' Thanksgiving Day Massacre

Bart Starr, with Roger Brown (76) and Alex Karras (71)

bearing -- or lion-ing -- down on him.

November 22, 1962: The Detroit Lions host the Green Bay Packers at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Lions had won the NFL Championship in 1952, 1953 and 1957, and had been a good team since, but had fallen behind the Packers, who had revived under Vince Lombardi, and won the title the season before.

On October 7, the Packers had beaten the Lions, 9-7. It was a strong performance from the Lions' defense, led by their line, the 1st defensive line to be known as "the Fearsome Foursome": Tackles Alex Karras and Roger Brown, and ends Darris McCord and Sam Williams. They were backed by linebackers Joe Schmidt, Carl Brettschneider and Wayne Walker; and defensive backs Dick "Night Train" Lane, Dick LeBeau, Yale Lary and Gary Lowe.

(There would be other "Fearsome Foursomes." The Los Angeles Rams had the best-known one, with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy. In the AFL, the San Diego Chargers had Ernie Ladd, Henry Schmidt, Earl Faison and Bob Petrich.)

But the Lions didn't really have the offense to match. Their quarterback was Earl Morrall, a few years before his big successes (reaching 3 Super Bowls, winning 2 of them) and his big failure (losing the other). Running back Ollie Matson was getting old, and Morrall didn't have great receivers to throw to.

But they would have a rematch with the Packers on Thanksgiving Day. And they were really up for it. They ended up sacking Packer quarterback Bart Starr 11 times. The Lions won, 26-14 in front of a national audience on CBS.

It becomes known as the Thanksgiving Day Massacre, and it turns out to be the only game the Packers lose all year, as they repeat as NFL Champions. The Lions finished 11-3, which would have been good enough to make the Playoffs after the 1970 merger with the AFL. But in that era, only the Division Champions made the Playoffs. Since 1957, the Lions have had their moments, but have never appeared in another NFL Championship Game, under that name or under the name of the Super Bowl.

Karras, Schmidt, Lane, LeBeau and Matson made the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So did the defensive coordinator who built that Lions defense, who was hired as head coach by the Baltimore Colts the next season: Don Shula.

UPDATE: The Lions don't have a team Hall of Fame, but they named an All-Time Team in 2019, in connection with the NFL's 100th season. From their 1962 team, they honored running back Nick Pietrosante, receiver Gail Cogdill, defensive tackles Alex Karras and Roger Brown, linebacker Joe Schmidt, cornerbacks Dick "Night Train" Lane and Dick LeBeau, and safety Yale Lary. Karras, Lane, LeBeau, receiver Terry Barr and linebacker Wayne Walker were elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

After their 1957 NFL Championship, the Lions didn't make the Playoffs again until winning the 1st-ever NFC Wild Card berth in 1970. From that team, their All-Time Team includes Karras, LeBeau, tight end Charlie Sanders, center Ed Flanagan, linebacker Mike Lucci, and cornerback Lem Barney. Their Michigan Sports Hall of Fame inductees from that year are Karras, LeBeau, Sanders, Walker, Barney, and team owner William Clay Ford Sr.

They didn't make the Playoffs again until another Wild Card berth in 1982, and won the NFC Central Division in 1983. From that team, their All-Time Team includes running back Billy Sims, defensive tackle Doug English, and defensive end Al "Bubba" Baker.

In 1991, they won the NFC Central, and reached the NFC Championship Game. From that team, their All-Time Team includes running back Barry Sanders, receiver Herman Moore, kick returner Mel Gray, center Kevin Glover, offensive tackle Lomas Brown, linebacker Chris Spielman, and safety Bennie Blades. They won the NFC Central again in 1993, and won a Wild Card berth in 1994, with all of those, plus defensive end Robert Porcher and kicker Jason Hanson.

They made the Playoffs again in 1995, with Sanders, Moore, Glover, Brown, Spielman, Blades, Hanson and running back Cory Schlesinger. They made the Playoffs again in 1997, with Sanders, Moore, Glover, Hanson and Schlesinger. They made it again in 1999, with Moore, Hanson and Schlesinger. Their Michigan Sports Hall of Fame inductees from the 1990s are Ford, Sanders, Moore, Spielman, Brown and Porcher.

They didn't make the Playoffs again until 2011, with only Hanson still around, adding quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Calvin Johnson and safety Don Muhlbach from their all-time team. They made it again with Stafford, Johnson and Muhlbach in 2014; and with Stafford and Muhlbach in 2016. Of those, only Johnson has yet been named to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. They have since won the NFC North in 2023 and 2024.

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November 22, 1962, like all Thanksgiving Days, was a Thursday. The Dallas Cowboys didn't start playing home games on Thanksgiving until 1966, so this was the only NFL game on the day. One game was played in the AFL: The New York Titans won a shootout with the Denver Broncos, 46-45 at Bears Stadium in Denver. The next year, the Titans were renamed the Jets. In 1968, Bears Stadium was renamed Mile High Stadium.

There were 7 college football games that day:

* In a major rivalry, Number 4 Texas beat Texas A&M, 13-3. Texas won the Southwest Conference Championship, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Louisiana State (LSU).

* In a minor rivalry, the University of Richmond beat the College of William & Mary, 15-3 at Cary Stadium in Williamsburg, Virginia.

* In a minor rivalry, the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) beat Virginia Tech, 14-9 at Victory Stadium in Roanoke, Virginia.

* North Carolina State beat Wake Forest, 27-3 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

* The University of Tulsa beat Wichita State, 21-6 at Skelly Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

* Texas Western University beat Trinity University, 21-0 at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas. In 1966, just a few months after winning the National Championship in basketball in a big step forward for civil rights, TWU changed their name to the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Trinity, in San Antonio, now compete in NCAA Division III.

* And Montana beat Colorado State, 16-15 at Colorado Field in Fort Collins.

The National Championship was won by the University of Southern California (USC), who played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, beating UCLA, 14-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and then beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

In more recent times, so as not to compete with football for television viewers, the NBA and the NHL usually do not play on Thanksgiving Day. This time, there were 3 NBA games played:

* The Syracuse Nationals beat the Boston Celtics, 130-120 at the Boston Garden. The next season, the Nats moved, becoming the Philadelphia 76ers.

* The St. Louis Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-91 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 134-110 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 7-1 at the Boston Garden. (Yes, it hosted the Celtics and the Bruins on the same day.) Earl Ingarfield and Larry Cahan each had 2 goals.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 1-0 at the Chicago Stadium. Pierre Pilote had the game's only goal.

In hindsight, since Canada has its Thanksgiving on the 2nd Monday in October, when America holds Columbus Day, both of the Canadian teams, Montreal and Toronto, should have been at home on America's Thanksgiving Day, thus maximizing attendance.