Gesicki approved as he also looks forward to his first Thanksgiving game.
“I like the structure. A Thursday night game in October kind of gives you a mini-bye,” Gesicki said of the Oct. 16 Paycor Stadium game against the Steelers. “The bye week in the (second) week in November. Then a Thursday night game on Thanksgiving. It gives you a coupe of points through the back end of the season to rejuvenate a little bit.
“I’ve played on Christmas. I’ve played on Christmas Eve. But never Thanksgiving. That’s cool. That’s what everybody wants. A big stage, a lot of people watching, a big game, two really good teams. I don’t think the day or night changes the magnitude of the game.”
Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. has played in a Pro Bowl and won a Super Bowl. But he’s never played in Green Bay, and he’s never played on Thanksgiving. He’ll do both this year and starts by crossing off Lambeau Field in the Oct. 12 game against the Packers.
“I’m really looking forward to going up and seeing that place. That organization and team has so much history,” Brown said.
Karras also makes his first trip there and notes that makes one stadium left for him to hit them all. But Seattle’s not on the schedule. Like Brown and Gesicki, he doesn’t mind working Thanksgiving.
“Thanksgiving isn’t relaxed,” Karras said. “Doesn’t matter whether we’re playing or not. We always have a game looming.”
Brown grew up in Baltimore when his namesake dad was one of the linchpins of the first Ravens teams. The Ravens drafted him and he played his first three seasons there. Another Thursday nighter in his hometown doesn’t bother him.
“I t doesn’t matter to me. We could play where ever,” Brown said. “It’s a testament to how exciting those games have been. The matchups across the field on both sides of the ball. It’s been two really good teams normally at that point facing off against each other.”