The Detroit Lions' all-time record on Thanksgiving Day is 37-40-2.

Here are the results from all those games:

Why the Detroit Lions always play on Thanksgiving Day

It all started when the Detroit Lions were actually the Portsmouth Spartans -- in 1929. In 1934, owner George Richards bought the team and moved it to Detroit.

The Lions, at that time, were looking for new ways to draw fans. As a marketing idea, Richards convinced NBC to broadcast a Thanksgiving game on 94 stations across the country.

It worked. The Lions would end up selling out their first Thanksgiving Day game (26,000 seats), and even though they lost to the Bears, a new tradition was born.