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It never getting played because of a worldwide pandemic that caused an outbreak within a bitter division rival?
Unprecedented. Unique. Bizarre.
And yet, entirely on brand for what’s been the history of Pittsburgh Steelers games on Thanksgiving Day.
The first scheduled NFL game to be played on Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh was postponed because of positive coronavirus tests among the Baltimore Ravens organization. So while Heinz Field was to sit empty Thursday night, all Steelers fans could resort to while pent-up on the holiday was reminisce about Steelers Thanksgiving Days of the past.
There are not too many positive memories – but there are some unforgettable moments and sets of circumstances that range from the quirky to the sad.
The Steelers have won only two of their eight appearances on Turkey Day, the worst winning rate of any NFL team that’s played as many as four games. Though the Steelers enjoyed victories in 1950 and 2016, during many of the defeats, there was something that made them stand out:
Tails never fails
Future Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis’ Thanksgiving coin-flip call failed tails by (allegedly) making it his second choice.
The 1998 game at the Silverdome is notable for reasons having little to do the Detroit Lions’ 19-16 victory.
“All these years later,” Charlie Batch said this week, “it is pretty cool to say I was part of history.”
A Homestead native who was the Steelers’ backup quarterback for 11 seasons, Batch was a rookie starter for the Lions 22 Thanksgivings ago. Batch remembers the game not because it was against his hometown team, nor for that it was his first game-winning drive as a pro QB.
Batch’s most vivid recollection of Nov. 26, 1998, was the overtime coin toss.
“All I knew,” Batch said, “was that our two captains went out there, and Robert Porcher came back to the sideline, and he was like, ‘I don’t know what the heck just happened, but we got the ball.’”
Seven plays later, the Lions had won the game. That’s something that would not have happened if not for referee Phil Luckett insisting Steelers captain Jerome Bettis called, “heads,” while the future Hall of Famer maintains he said “tails.”
“(Bettis) called ‘heads-tails.’ He first called ‘heads,’” Luckett would later tell Referee.com.
After the game, Bettis told reporters: “I did not say ‘heads-tails… That’s a bold-faced lie.”
Batch would become a teammates of Bettis’ for five seasons. The friends talk about that day frequently.
“I’ll say, ‘Jerome, it’s been 18 years,’” Batch said. “’Can you finally admit you said heads-tails?’ And he just kind of laughs. ‘I didn’t say heads-tails; I said tails.’ So to this day, 22 years later, he’s still is sticking to that story.”
The loss was devastating to the Steelers’ that year, triggering a season-ending five-game losing streak that dropped them from 7-4 to 7-9.
But as the winning QB that day, Batch can laugh about it.
“That was the last (NFL) game you could ever call the coin flip in the air,” Batch said, noting the NFL rule change that required calls before the toss. “At least I’ll always have that cool story to tell.”
Tomlin’s (near) trip
Mike Tomlin would contritely refer to his actions during a 2013 Thanksgiving game as an “embarrassing, inexcusable (and) illegal.”
The Steelers coach’s “personal blunder” came when the Ravens’ Jacoby Jones appeared on his way to a touchdown during a third-quarter kick return. But Jones was tackled after being forced to cut slightly to the inside because Tomlin’s right foot was on the field of play as he watched the M&T Bank Stadium video board while facing the other direction.
Baltimore would win the game, 22-20, but a maelstrom of controversy swirled in NFL circles over the holiday weekend. Did Tomlin, with the intent of helping the Steelers, purposely alter Jones’ path?
Tomlin insisted it was all unintentional, that he was merely caught up in the moment of watching the Jumbotron. Tomlin also said he would accept any punishment, and it ultimately came from the NFL in the form of a $100,000 fine.
A ‘Massacre’
In Pittsburgh, it’s been referred to as the “Thanksgiving Day Massacre.” Half-baked turkeys were still inside Western Pennsylvania ovens at the point 1983’s Turkey Day game at Detroit was all but decided when the Lions scored on their first four possessions en route to a 45-3 win.
The 42-point defeat was the Steelers’ worst in 36 years, and it remains the worst road loss in team history. Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone combined for five interceptions.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Steelers coach Chuck Noll said he’d considered what its turning point was.
“I decided it was the opening kickoff,” he quipped.
Give ‘Franks’
The first two Thanksgiving games featuring the franchise Art Rooney Sr. founded were true turkeys. The first one, in 1939, matched a pair of winless teams. The following year, the participants entered with a combined record of 2-15-2. Rooney’s team managed all of two touchdowns over the two games.
Neither was won by the Steelers – or by the “Pirates,” as they were still known in 1939. But the most interesting aspect of these Thanksgiving games is that each – Nov. 23, 1939, and Nov. 28, 1940 – was played on a Thanksgiving. But there was considerable debate as to whether either was played on the Thanksgiving.
Then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in the summer of 1939, cited boosting the retail economy in declaring Thanksgiving be bumped up a week from the traditional final-Thursday-in-November spot it had occupied for eight decades. But much of the country balked at what they saw as a whimsical declaration. Many states governed by Republicans, especially, rejected the wishes of Roosevelt, a Democrat.
That meant two Thanksgivings, depending on where you lived. So, that the Steelers/Pirates played the in-state Philadelphia Eagles on both of these Thanksgiving meetings was not an accident: different Thanksgivings in different states complicated the scheduling of events where people crossed state lines.
The Pirates-Eagles 1939 meeting was on the “Democratic” Thanksgiving, but when the Steelers and Eagles met the following year, it was the “Republican” Thanksgiving.
This year, the Steelers’ “Thanksgiving game” won’t be happening until (at least) three days after Thanksgiving.
Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris by email at cadamski@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL
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