Jason Garrett’s peak as an NFL player came on Thanksgiving Day 1994, when he started in place of the injured Troy Aikman and led the Dallas Cowboys to victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Some 30 years later, Garrett revealed what he did with one of the souvenirs he earned that day.

John Madden and Pat Summerall were invited to Garrett’s performance on Thanksgiving Day 1994. When the game was over, Garrett (along with teammates Charles Haley, Nate Newton and Emmitt Smith) was awarded a turkey leg by Madden. In 2024, Garrett attended the Thanksgiving night game at Lambeau Field between the Packers and the Miami Dolphins. Early in the fourth quarter, Mike Tirico – who, along with Garrett, decided the game – brought it up.

“Jason, John Madden and Thanksgiving meant turkey legs,” Tirico said. “You were once the recipient of a Madden turkey leg.”

“Yeah, I sure was,” Garrett said. “And John Madden meant so much to football. I’ve thought about it. LeRoy Butler talked about him earlier. Everyone felt like they had a relationship with John Madden. He did so much for football. I can remember that day. It was 30 years ago – 1994. We beat the Packers and Madden was a big part of it.”

After talking about how the 1994 game went, Tirico asked Garrett an important question.

“What happened to the turkey leg?” asked Tirico.

“You know something, I had it in the freezer,” Garrett said. “It was in aluminum foil.”

“For how long?” Tirico replied.

“I probably had it for 15 years. Then we finally moved.”

What did Jason Garrett do with the turkey leg he got from John Madden for his Thanksgiving performance in 1994?

“I had it in the freezer, it was in aluminum foil, I had it for probably 15 years. Then we finally moved.” pic.twitter.com/rpD683VcEF

– Awful Announcement (@awfulanncreasing) November 29, 2024

Garrett continued.

“I called my wife the other day,” Garrett noted. “I asked, ‘Do we still have the turkey leg?’ She said, ‘No, it’s long over.'”

That’s a shame. We would certainly like to see what the turkey leg looks like now.

Or maybe not.

(Image credit: NBC/Fox)