Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I proposed to the Niff two years ago on Turkey Day because even if you could make up another holiday you couldn't beat the combination of food, family, friends, and football.
This year was no different than previous Turkey Days – the Niff started the day off with her Turkey Trot (spot of proposal), and I took off for our 14th Annual Turkey Day Game.
A bit of history about the game: we've been playing full tackle, no padded football since 1994, my freshman year in high school. The one and only constant in every game has been yours truly, but 2nd place for attendance will always go to Mark. The only reason he ever missed a game was because he was doing Marine Corps stuff and couldn't get back. We've had anywhere between 6 guys and 40 guys playing. This year we had 20 and it was easily the most even and well played game overall in our entire 14 years. Halfway through our game as if on cue we saw the group of two-hand touch "people" from the upper field, just as I was explaining to some of the new guys that one year they decided to play with us…and promptly left halfway through because we were "tackling too hard".
We had a solid mix of people that have been there since the beginning, others that have been there the last few years, and new kids. It's never just been about playing football – many of these guys I see once a year, on Thanksgiving Day, catch up and then play ball. That's part of the tradition and purpose behind it all.
The weather was perfect for Turkey Day in New England – 45, sunny, breezy. The field was a big wet, muddy in the middle, and generally soft enough so when you were tackled you didn't think twice when running the ball.
My cousins and sister were there, with Jessie taking pictures, and right before we started the Niff not only finished the race but ran to where we were playing to watch for a bit.
I caught a TD in the corner of one endzone for our 2nd score while Mark caught our 4th TD and if not for that giant gas ball in the sky he would have caught our 5th TD as well. He also caught what we thought was the game winner when we were all tied up for what seemed like forever – he walked to the sideline, and while still on the field started talking to Jessie. The defense never covered him and he ran a 5 yard post and was wide open. After the entire other team called BS we used it to our advantage – Mark and I had been lining up next to each other all day causing mismatches when we ran crosses, because come on, in backyard football the skinny fast guy covers the skinny fast guy while the "huskier" guys are usually on each other. Whenever we crossed, Mark picked up on the slower bigger guy and the faster kid went after him because that was his assignment, leaving me open usually and Mark with the advantage as well. Our QB at that point was Melvin, a giant of a Defensive End that Mark and I used to play with on the Predators, but damnit that kid can throw. He hit me open and if not for a squirmy little RB/DB hitting me low I would have scored the winner right there. Mark and I again ran a cross with me going over the middle and me getting the ball. When I was about 10 yards shy of the goal line Nickola hit me and wrapped me up with another kid, and just then someone went in for the killshot…but he knocked me loose. With Nickola holding onto my leg I dove into the end zone for the win, much like this pic:
It was a fantastic game, a great day for football and seeing old faces, and I can tell it will be even better next year.
