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You can be the biggest Lions Hater on the planet and still admit it’s hard not to root for Dan Campbell, who’s managed to turn things around in Detroit and become one of the most beloved figures in the NFL in the process. However, he’s certainly putting some of the goodwill he’s accrued to the test with some fairly divisive thoughts on Thanksgiving food.
No NFL team has played on Thanksgiving on more occasions than the Detroit Lions, who have gone 37-44-2 in the 83 games they’ve been featured in on Turkey Day since kicking off the tradition all the way back in 1938 (the Cowboys, who got in on the annual action in 1966, are second at 55).
Dan Campbell is currently in search of his first win on Thanksgiving, as the head coach saw the Lions drop his inaugural holiday showdown to the Bears in 2021 before losing to the Bills in 2022 (Detroit is favored to beat the Packers by around a touchdown when they face off on Thursday).
It came as no surprise that Thanksgiving came up when Campbell chatted with reporters prior to the contest with Green Bay, and he got the chance to get some things off of his chest while admitting he’s not a huge fan of some foods most people would consider staples.
Dan Campbell’s Thanksgiving plate: “Must have is ham. I’m a big ham guy. I’m not a turkey guy, unless it’s fried turkey. I’m not a dressing fan. I’m not a cranberry fan, I’ll throw that right out to the dogs. Everything else, I’ll load it right on top of each other, full stack.”
— Will Burchfield (@burchie_kid) November 21, 2023
There’s a fair amount to process here.
I’ll give Campbell the “Ham Over Turkey” stance; I can’t say I personally subscribe to it, but I’ve had to deal with dry poultry enough times over the years to understand why he’d rather just go with a main dish that’s much harder to screw up (the fact that he does like fried turkey is possibly the least shocking development of all time).
Cranberry sauce is also a fairly divisive condiment, so I think he gets a pass on that.
However, I don’t know if I can overlook his stance on dressing (a.k.a. stuffing), which is arguably the unheralded hero of Thanksgiving. You’d think someone like Campbell would love an excuse to house multiple spoonfuls of what essentially amounts to herby bread (and, assuming you’re doing it right, sausage), and that aggression simply won’t stand in my book.
With that said, I’m certainly not about to tell a 6’5″ guy who played tight end in the NFL he’s doing Thanksgiving wrong.