A Special Look Back At The Detroit Lions First Thanksgiving Game Without Barry Sanders
The Detroit Lions just made a triumphant comeback victory over the weekend against the Chicago Bears to secure an 8 and 2 record, which is the best record that they have had since 1962 to start the season. The Chicago Bears have had a rough year, but definitely gave the Lions some woes early in the game.
The score itself was very close much like their Thanksgiving Day game back in 1999. This was a game that was early dominated by Detroit and would prove to be the winning factor as they won that game 21 to 17. It was also important because not only was the Lion's Thanksgiving game, a tradition, but it was also the first one they were playing without Barry Sanders.
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Sanders decided to retire at the end of the 1988 season nine years after entering the league and some say, in the prime of his career.
Recently, a Detroit Lions fan, Leanne Shaw Truckey uploaded some photos of that Thanksgiving Day game back in 1999 from the Pontiac Silverdome, which shows the full celebration of the day, including a Lions hot air balloon, a really cool on-field performance from Halftime, and the crowd walking into the arena.
The Lions were then led by Bobby Ross and saw scoring touchdowns by Germane Crowell in the first quarter, then Greg Hill and Johnny Morton in the second quarter, which would prove to be enough by the end of the 4th. The game was a sell-out of 77,905, which is not unusual for these games.
Check out the photos below:
Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day Game From 1999
The Lions were then led by Bobby Ross and saw scoring touchdowns by Germane Crowell in the first quarter, then Greg Hill and Johnny Morton in the second quarter, which would prove to be enough by the end of the 4th. The game was a sell-out of 77,905, which is not unusual for these games.
Gallery Credit: Leanne Shaw Truckey
Detroit Lions All-Time Rushing Leaderboard
Gallery Credit: Jacob Harrison
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