The 4th-most important Thanksgiving Day game ever played by the Green Bay Packers occurred on November 22, 1951 (an action shot from that game is above). It not only represented the first of thirteen consecutive years they traveled to Detroit on Turkey Day as football took hold of the holiday in the United States, but it also marked a revolutionary moment in how Americans digested this up-and-coming professional sport.
Today, football fans have the ability to watch any NFL game on any given week. Streaming services offer out-of-market games to any television in the country, a luxury Americans have gobbled up in droves. However, it was not always like that. In fact, the 1951 Thanksgiving game, from which action is shown below, was the very first game the Packers played on national television.
THE INFANCY OF THE NFL ON TELEVISION
The first NFL game ever to be televised was on October 22, 1939, and the game pitted the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, it did not make a big splash nationally because only two markets covered it, WRGB in Schenectady, New York, and W2XBS in New York City. Only after World War II did broadcasts of NFL games become commonplace, albeit at a regional level, and it wasn’t until 1948 that the NFL finally televised its season-ending championship game.
INTEREST AND COVERAGE BEGAN TO EVOLVE
Another milestone in the history of NFL broadcasts came in 1950. The Los Angeles Rams and the Washington Redskins became the first teams to have ALL of their games–home and away–televised.
However, most teams, including the Packers, still only had selected home games on television in their local markets. It actually stayed that way until Pete Rozelle, who became the NFL commissioner in 1960, worked to see that every team experienced all of its games on TV as one of his first orders of business.
NATIONAL TV GAME BROUGHT EXCITEMENT TO WISCONSIN…
When plans that the 1951 Thanksgiving game vs. the Lions was to be broadcast from coast to coast were announced, Packers fans finally had reason to be proud in an era where they had little to shout about. “By 1951, Green Bay’s glorious run of NFL titles was a distant memory.” Between their inception in 1919 until 1947, the Packers won six NFL championships and endured just one losing season in 1933.
Coming into the 1951 holiday contest, the Packers were a combined 11-33 in the previous three and a half seasons. Times were tough for loyal Green Bay fans, and this nationally-televised game was just the juice they were looking for.
…BUT NOT ALL PACKERS FANS COULD EXPERIENCE IT
Initial prognostications estimated nearly 24 million people would view the game, which was set to be broadcast by the DuMont Television Network. But since there were no DuMont television stations in Green Bay at the time, local residents had to scramble in order to watch it. Unfortunately, the closest DuMont affiliate to Green Bay was WTMJ in Milwaukee. So, for the most important television event in Packers history, those living in the Green Bay area had to either drive toward Milwaukee to view the game, or they had to visualize the action while listening to the announcers on the radio.
4. November 22, 1951: Detroit 52, Green Bay 35
Aside from the millions of viewers watching from their living rooms after their turkey dinners, 33,452 people piled into Briggs Stadium to watch the game live. The Lions, just on the cusp of a successful championship streak when they won titles in 1952, 1953, and 1957, entered the game with a 5-2-1 record. The visiting Packers limped into the Motor City with a 3-5 record.
FAST START FOR THE PACKERS…
The game started out on a high note for the Packers. Green Bay raced out to a 14-10 lead after the first quarter, thanks to touchdowns by Carl Elliott and Tobin Rote (pictured below)
. A 48-yard scoring strike to Don Moiselle from Rote extended the Packers’ lead to 21-10 early in the second quarter, but the tide turned in the time remaining before halftime, thanks to contributions from Lions all-time legends Doak Walker and Bobby Layne.
…BUT THE LIONS AWOKE FROM HIBERNATION
Layne threw three touchdown passes in the second period, two to 1949 Heisman Trophy winner Leon Hart and one to the 1948 Heisman recipient Walker, leaving the Packers on the short end of a 31-21 halftime score (#22 Layne and #37 Walker pictured below). Bob Hoernschemeyer raced 85 yards for another score at the beginning of the second half, and the rout was on. The Lions tacked on two more touchdowns to win 52-35 despite three touchdown passes and a scoring run from Rote.
WHAT DID THIS GAME MEAN FOR THE PACKERS AND THE NFL?
Football fans today would not be able to wrap their collective heads around how primitive the NFL’s coverage was 70+ years ago. The NFL Network, RedZone coverage, and a limitless supply of internet applications make absorbing football action easily accessible for the information-starved American sports public. But back on Thanksgiving Day in 1951, the Packers took the first step towards overtaking baseball as our national pastime. Putting its product on television sets from New York to Los Angeles, the NFL realized that more eyeballs on the game and its players generated more interest, one that has evolved into generating an estimated $126 billion windfall from television rights for the league over the next decade.