The Turkey Bowl is what’s going to get you all the way from when you wake up on Thanksgiving morning all the way until 7:30 PM Central when the Packers play.  It’s a very simple fantasy football game that three friends and I created to make the best holiday of the year just a little bit better.

The Turkey Bowl is for 4-6 players.  You can’t have more than six because there are only six starting quarterbacks on Thanksgiving day.  Who should play? Who cares!  The Turkey Bowl is for everyone.  It’s a great way to create competition between the friends and relatives at your Thanksgiving celebration or a way to keep in touch with people you end up spread apart from during the holiday season.

The first thing to do is to determine a draft order.  Draw numbers out of a hat, have a Madden tournament that angers everyone who is trying to prepare the dinner, or do a punt pass and kick competition in the front yard.  It doesn’t matter, just determine a draft order.

After a draft order is determined, draft (duh).  This can be done as soon as you read this, Wednesday night over some beverages or on Thursday morning when all participants arrive.  The only players eligible to be drafted are players from the Thanksgiving day games.  Our suggested roster configuration is QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, FLEX.  No kickers, no defense.  No time for that noise.

Use what ever scoring system you like.  We have used ESPN’s standard scoring plus a half point for a catch.  Google makes it very easy to create spreadsheets to keep track of scoring all day long.

What you do or do not choose to wager is completely up to you.  This is a family site and therefore we do not condone any illegal gambling activities.  Our group puts in twenty jelly beans and the winner takes all of the jelly beans.  There is no second place.

If nothing else a Turkey Bowl allows you to focus on football, alienate the relatives you don’t want to talk to and drink a little bit.  Isn’t that what the holiday season is all about?

Matt Forte vs. Packers
How do you pass the time waiting for the Packers game to start? Play in a Turkey Bowl.

Don’t want to play? Still want to follow along? Sure, here’s the link to the original league: Turkey Bowl

We’re drafting Wednesday morning at 9:00.

Here are quick profiles for the four participants in case you want to pick a horse to back:

Ross Uglem– host of From the Benches, writer at PackersTalk.com and the man behind Packers Football Friday, Ross is the standard bearer for the Turkey Bowl.  After blowing a big lead and finishing as the runner up in Turkey Bowl I to Shane Vereen and Wes Welker, Ross has captured two straight Turkey Bowls.  Drafting at the wraparound spot for the second straight year, Uglem looks to make two impact picks in the 1st and 2nd round.

Ryan Hillesland- co-host of From the Benches and avid Packer fan, Ryan is the lovable loser of the bunch.  Failing in most of the fantasy sports related endeavors he attempts, Ryan finished 4th in TBI, 3rd in TBII, and 4th in TBIII.  Ryan is in the pressure packed position of picking first in tomorrow’s draft before being in the pressure packed position of spending Thanksgiving with his girlfriend’s family.  Tune in to see how he handles the heat.

Sean Woxland- Ross’s first cousin and a lifelong Packers fan, Woxland is a threat each season but has failed to break through and taste the cranberry sauce of victory.  After two consecutive runner-up finishes Sean’s looking to take home the title.  Drafting on either side of the champ while punching the clock for corporate America, Woxland must maintain focus.

Josh “Hahntroversy” Hahn- the original gangsta, the OG, the winner of the inaugural Turkey Bowl is the only Vikings fan in the group.  True to his allegiance to the Vikes, Josh is the first one to blame officiating when something goes wrong on Turkey Bowl Thursday.  Always thinking outside the box, don’t be surprised to see Hahn do something unexpected selecting in the #2 spot.

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Ross Uglem is a writer at PackersTalk.com. You can follow Ross on twitter at RossUglem

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