5 great individual NFL Thanksgiving performances ft. Randy Moss
One of the most popular holidays on the American calendar, for reasons far beyond its NFL connections, is Thanksgiving. Individual questions and competitions pepper the landscape, with many debating the merits of the various side dishes centered around the meal upon which the holiday is based.
Putting the delicacies aside for a precious minute, SK looks back on a different brand of individual debate: Which individual NFL players have had the greatest performances in Thanksgiving history?
The most prolific Thanksgiving efforts in NFL history
1929: RB/K Ernie Nevers, Chicago Cardinals
Offensive NFL records fall like dominoes these days, but this one has stood the test in time.
Time-traveling fantasy football players would perhaps love to venture back to 1929, where Ernie Nevers was a walking scoreboard in a Chicago civil war. Representing the Cardinals against the Bears, Nevers was responsible for all 40 points...six for rushing touchdowns and four extra points...in a blowout victory.
While Nevers' six-score haul was tied by Alvin Kamara last Christmas, his Thanksgiving points tally has yet to be matched. The modern Thanksgiving staples from Detroit often struggle to hit 40 as a team over a 2- to 3-week span.
1976: RB O.J. Simpson, Buffalo Bills
Thrown into the NFL Thanksgiving spotlight as the Detroit Lions' opponent in 1976, the Buffalo Bills endured the best of times and the worst of times. NFL history was set that afternoon at the Pontiac Silverdome, as O.J. Simpson set a league record with 273 rushing yards while also visiting the end zone twice.
Alas for the Bills, working through the midst of a brutal season, NFL history wasn't enough to push them over the top. Outside of Simpson's historic ground efforts, Buffalo mustered only 49 yards of offense.
Quarterback Gary Marangi likely killed some Bills fans' appetites with a 4-for-21 passing performance, one of only 12 efforts in NFL history where a quarterback completed less than 20 percent of his passes (min. 20 attempts). Detroit won the game 28-14.
1986: WR/Ret. Walter Stanley, Green Bay Packers
Walter Stanley had a relatively quiet NFL career, playing seven seasons in Green Bay, Detroit, Washington, New England, and San Diego. But the fourth-round receiver out of Colorado Mesa saved his best for the holiday season when the divisional rival Packers came to Detroit.
Stanley worked off any potential weight gain from the postgame meal through a jaw-dropping 287 total yards and half of his career total of six touchdowns. The final 83 yards were vital. Fielding a Lions punt with 41 seconds left and the Packers facing a four-point deficit, Stanley went the distance for a deciding score, the finishing touch of a 44-40 Green Bay triumph.
Week 13, 1986
#Packers #Lions in a Thanksgiving shoot out.
Walter Stanley has an incredible day, going 4-134-2 and scoring the winning TD with less than 1 min left on a 83 yard punt return.
Ferguson 19-37-256-3-2
Wright 18-26-286-3-1
Chadwick 6-121-1
44-40 #Packers https://t.co/CBHQztPsSy
Though Stanley made his mark as a return man (leading the league with a 13.9 punt return average in 1989, ironically as a Lion), that return would be the only such score of his career.