Thanksgiving Day at Texas Stadium. Sometimes it's like being in the Bermuda Triangle.
It's a time of unlikely heroes and crazy plays. Witness the last two years as examples.Last year, Jason Garrett, a third stringer who had never started an NFL game, did so against the Green Bay Packers because Troy Aikman and Rodney Peete were injured.
Called "Rudy" by his teammates because of his resemblance to the Notre Dame movie hero, Garrett had an Aikman-like day and the Cowboys rolled to victory over the bewildered Packers.
Two years ago was a scene out of Football Follies.
The first and only snow and ice storm ever to strike Texas Stadium on Thanksgiving Day turned the Miami-Dallas game into a bizarre scene.
Players were slipping and sliding in a wintry wonderland. Dallas appeared to have the game in hand after the Cowboys blocked a desperate last-minute field goal attempt by the Dolphins.
Enter Leon Lett, the king of football bloopers. Lett, of course, had become famous in the Super Bowl while hot-dogging on what he thought was a sure touchdown. Nearing the goal he held the ball aloft in triumph only to suffer the indignation of a Buffalo player poking the ball away.
After Dallas blocked the Miami field goal, Lett thought he had to recover it or the Cowboys wouldn't have possession. He touched the ball and Miami recovered. The Dolphins won in the final second.
"We've had some bizarre stuff happen on Thanksgiving," said safety-linebacker Bill Bates. "For some reason it's always a crazy game with crazy things happening."
The Kansas City Chiefs, sporting the NFL's best record at 10-1 and a seven-game win streak, play the Cowboys (9-2) on Thursday.
Kansas City owner Lamar Hunt, who lives in Dallas, said it's a big advantage for the Cowboys always to be playing at home on Thanksgiving and has lobbied fellow owners to take the game away from Jerry Jones, the owner the NFL loves to hate.
"It's a tremendous competitive advantage to them," Hunt said. "The game should be spread around."
Hunt has already been told a win can do big things for Kansas City.
The NFL office has notified the Chiefs they can clinch an AFC wild card berth with a win. The Cowboys are two games ahead of Philadelphia in the NFC East.
The Chiefs are the turnover kings of the NFL with a plus 11 in takeaways. Dallas is way down the line with a plus two but the Cowboys have the best offense in the NFL and the top rushing game with Emmitt Smith, who leads the league with 1,347 yards.
The 10-point favorite Cowboys just hope they won't be victims of the "red jersey jinx" in Texas Stadium on Thursday.
The Cowboys have only lost twice this season. Once to Washington, wearing a shade of red, burgundy, and, of course, the San Francisco 49ers. Kansas City wears red.
Could the red jersey jinx strike again?
Only on Thanksgiving. In Texas Stadium.