Brothers’ Turkey Bowl tradition at Southmoor Park turns 50

DENVER — Every family has their Thanksgiving traditions. Some love the turkey and others like the parade.

But two brothers have made their Turkey Bowl a holiday staple for family and friends at Southmoor Park for half a century.

For Douglas and Perry Leyden, the field at Southmoor Park is familiar. The ground well-worn.

“We’ve got generations here. Really cool,” Douglas said, looking at photos of Thanksgivings past.

Here, generations of their family and friends all gather for a game. It’s tradition.

“It’s family, friends gathering. Absolutely, that’s all we need,” Perry said. “They don’t know anything but coming to the Turkey Bowl. We have a 27-year-old and she knows I go to the Turkey Bowl.”

A sport at Southmoor they started playing back in 1975.

“We started playing the game and played tackle and beat each other up pretty good and said, ‘Let’s do that next year because it was so much fun,’ and here we are,” Douglas said. “50 years later, we’re still doing it.”

Each game they’ve played has been memorable.

“Here’s our pictures from Lambeau Field,” Douglas said, showing photos from the game they were chosen by the NFL to play for a crowd. “So there it is and there’s the 100th anniversary of the Turkey Bowl.”

“One year, it was so bad, the snow that we had to put trash cans and we lit them on fire so you could see the end zones,” Perry said.

But this year, the Leyden brothers are marking a milestone.

“Thank you everybody for coming out. We truly appreciate it. All joking aside, it’s 50 years. We got 100, if you look at the ribbons, there’s gonna be 100 years. That means your kid’s kids have to play,” Perry said to the crowd of players and fans gathered around.

Every year, Douglas and Perry play a little less, letting the next generations step in to keep the Turkey Bowl tradition going another 50 years.

“Yeah, I don’t know that this is ever gonna really stop,” Douglas said.

“It’s bigger than us. There’s no doubt about that,” Perry said.