The Detroit Lions would love to go on a winning streak to end the month of November. Detroit faces off against New York on Sunday before preparing to play Green Bay on Thanksgiving. One satirical article about the Lions playing on Thanksgiving has caused a surprising amount of turmoil for one player.
Lions rookie Tate Ratledge was the subject of an article by The Onion poking fun at Detroit's tradition of playing on Thanksgiving.
Ratledge said he got sent the article by “so many people” per Lions reporter Justin Rogers. He added that he heard from a team employee that someone called into a local radio station complaining about it as if it were real.
The article, titled “Detroit Lions Rookie Asks for Thanksgiving Off”, paints the picture of Ratledge asking for time off. What makes it so funny is that he obviously has to work on Thanksgiving as a member of the Lions.
The Onion created a pair of fake quotes to go along with the article.
“I know we have a game scheduled, but my family has this big tradition every year where we all get together on that day and have a feast and watch football, and I really don’t want to miss it,” Ratledge is quoted as saying in the satirical article.
Another quote jokes that Ratledge has “already had to cancel a lot of weekend plans” because of NFL games.
It concludes by joking that Ratledge offered to come in and “play a makeup game sometime during a bye week.” If readers did not understand that the article was satire before then, that line should've made it clear.
Lions vs. Giants kicks off at 1PM ET on Sunday. Then it is a short wait before Detroit's game against Green Bay on Thanksgiving at 1PM ET on Thursday.
