Thanksgiving

NFL honors John Madden with Thanksgiving coin toss tribute

Madden is featured on the coins that are being used in this year's Thanksgiving NFL games

NBC Universal, Inc.

The NFL is honoring legendary coach and broadcaster John Madden during this year's Thanksgiving games' coin toss.

Heads will feature a silhouette of the late Madden. Tails, meanwhile, will include a six-legged turducken, a creation that Madden helped make famous.

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This is the NFL's second Thanksgiving tribute to Madden, who died in December 2021 at 85 years old. He called 20 games from the booth on the holiday during his decades-long broadcasting career.

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In 1989, he started handing out a turkey leg to the top player from the Thanksgiving game he was calling. He called for more turkey with hopes of handing out food to more players, and it sparked the turducken: a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey.

Along with the special coins, players will wear jersey patches with Madden's silhouette and the field will have "John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration" stencils on the sideline. The Madden Player of the Game from each of Thursday's matchups will also receive a $10,000 donation in their name from the NFL Foundation that will go to a youth or high school football program of their choosing.

This year's Thanksgiving slate includes Packers-Lions at 12:30 p.m. ET, Commanders-Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. ET and 49ers-Seahawks at 8:20 p.m. ET.

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