For many high school seniors, Thanksgiving Day is the last time they'll ever play football

Perhaps it’s the Super Bowl. Maybe that’s it.

If you’re a high school football player, and your team has made it to the Super Bowl – doesn’t matter what division – of all the games you’ve played in, from your Pop Warner years 'til now, the Super Bowl is the game that has your head spinning.

Bonus points: if it’s at Gillette Stadium. Hard to fall asleep the night before.

You don’t get to play in a Super Bowl every year. Most high school players will never suit up for a Super Bowl.

But Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving’s different.

It’s the game with a long ribbon of tradition, the game, per chance, your older brother, father, uncle or grandfather played in. Qualifying for a high school Super Bowl is a shot in the dark. The Thanksgiving game you get four shots at, freshman to senior year. One shot every season.

Thanksgiving is the constant, perpetual game.

For most seniors, it’s not only their last dance, it’s their final game, period. Not every senior gets to play at the next level.

So this is it, Thanksgiving morning, come rain or come shine.

For the seniors, this is the game that will be talked about deep down the road of class reunions, the stories getting better with each year, each beer quaffed. Just wait.

The final Thanksgiving game, whether won or lost, you’ll never get it out of your mind, seniors. Not that I ever played in one, but after all these years writing about such things, it comes to mind that I’ve talked to so many area kids who did, and the subject keeps popping up.

Ah yes, that senior year Thanksgiving game. The key play that turned the game around: the pass, the block, the touchdown; or fumble, or catch.

The thrill, the disappointment, the fans, three-to-four times more than a regular season game, racing to the field at the end, players searching for family members, and vice-versa.

The memories. That’s the thing. The memories get unspooled at those reunions. Just wait.

So congrats, all you senior football players, all you players turning into young adults in front of your parents’ eyes; those of you who have risked football from the tender age of nine or so, took the licks and got this far, your last game. In time you will come to realize it’s actually endless.

Lenny Megliola can be reached at lennymegs41@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @lennymegs.