Santa Claus comes early every year for the Detroit Lions, on Thanksgiving to be exact. The jolly old soul hands the Lions their annual ‘gift’ in the form of a Thanksgiving game on their home field.

This is a clear case of not needing to be ‘good’ in any way shape or form to receive this handout from the NFL.

Year after year, this franchise struggles, and against the will of many of the other NFL owners, they continue to keep the Thanksgiving Game and the exposure that goes along with it.

Over the years many owners have brought up discussions and votes have occurred to move this game around the league to share the revenue. Somehow William Clay Ford continues to keep the game in his hometown of Detroit.

You have to wonder if the fact Ford Motor Company is one of the NFL’s biggest and most loyal advertisers has anything to do with this joke of an organization keeping this game.

I personally have attended several Thanksgiving games over the years and it’s quite the tradition. I saw O.J. Simpson shatter the single game rushing record when his Buffalo Bills visited the Lions at Pontiac Silverdome back in the 70’s. I spent many Thanksgiving days tailgating, seeing the game then finishing the day off stuffing myself with turkey dinner.

I love tradition and have a strong track record of supporting and keeping it. It makes my gut hurt to say this, but it is time for a change. To make NFL fans across the nation sit through a Lions game on this upcoming holiday and the ones to follow is absurd. It is time for Ford and his 0-9 Lions to hand over the torch.

The Dallas Cowboys were a dismal 1-15 one year but rebuilt and bounced back over the years, becoming a contender and winning a Super Bowl, earning the right to keep their spot.

The Lions on the other hand have shown no improvement over that same span, in fact they have gotten worse as their record over the past decade indicates.

If you’re out there Santa Claus, stop handing this gift to this NFL team and deliver a stocking full of coal and sticks to Ford and his Lions.

Taking the game from the Lions and spreading it throughout the league would bring much joy to fans across the nation.

Making this change is like delivering a Christmas gift to the rest of the NFL football world and relieves them from the agony and torture of sitting through Lion debacles year-after-year.

There is a rebuttal to this case and point found on Deadspin.

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