FORT IRWIN, Calif.-- There's nothing like football on Thanksgiving -- it's a national tradition. This year Fox Sports invited the Soldiers and Families of the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. to share in that long standing tradition.
On Thanksgiving Day Fox Sports conducted a live pre-game broadcast from the NTC training area. 1995 Heisman Trophy winner Eddy George and sports analyst Jay Glazer were on hand to banter between Fox Sports Los Angeles and the Fort Irwin crowd of about a thousand people. Soldiers got a chance to shoot questions to Fox hosts Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw in Los Angeles during the pre-game production.
Brig. Gen. Ted Martin attended with his family and told an audience of some 30 million football fans that he has "the best job in the Army commanding the National Training," during an on-air interview.
The Fort Irwin audience joined the nation to watch the Green Bay Packers play the Detroit Lions on what turned out to be a warm and sunny autumn day in the high desert.
"FOX NFL Sunday has had a long and storied tradition of honoring all the brave men and women who serve our great country," said FOX NFL Sunday coordinating producer Bill Richards in a press release. "This day and time of year marks another opportunity for us to give thanks and show these individuals how much we appreciate all they do for us."
"FOX Sports has travelled all over the world to do these segments with the military," said coordinating producer Jennifer Pransky, "but this venue is by far the most visually interesting, and of course the enthusiasm makes this even more appealing."
At half-time, George and Glazer moved to the Fort Irwin Dining Facility to tape an on-air segment with Soldiers in the serving line and took some time out to have Thanksgiving dinner before returning to the training area for post-game production and autograph signing.
"We'll never forget this Thanksgiving, "Glazer told the crowd as they closed the show.
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