After their father’s death, Lincoln siblings carry on Thanksgiving football game in his honor

Football on Thanksgiving is a Molifua family tradition. 

For decades, they’ve played a game dubbed the ‘Molifua Turkey Bowl.’ 

The name comes in part from the day the game started, a Thanksgiving more than two decades ago. 

The other part of the game’s name comes from its founding father, Neilson Molifua, whose wife told him he needed to find an outlet for their three active sons. 

“We were all in the kitchen one morning and my mom was trying to make the Thanksgiving meal,” said Casey Molifua, the second oldest of the three Molifua brothers. “My mom was basically like, “Neilson, you need to take these kids and do something with them!'” 

While an actual father to the three boys and their sister, Neilson Malifua was considered a father figure by many young men in Lincoln. 

He coached youth football, and grew what started as a pick-up football game with his family into an annual event that boasted a roster this year of nearly 50 players. 

The players, ranging in age from 10-30, gathered at UNL’s Vine Field near 17th and Vine Street early Thursday morning for the game. 

Some of them have been playing for decades. 

“A lot of these guys are graduates of high school, now college, and married and have kids,” said the youngest Molifua brother, Ethan. “We’re all getting older, but this tradition is never dying.” 

Four full teams played on two fields Thursday, with the smack talk audible from half a block away. 

But even with all the action on the field, many in attendance were focused on the one person in the stands. 

The Molifua family placed a photo of Neilson, who died in March from complications from a brain aneurysm and stroke he suffered in 2011. 

Even as his health declined, the Molifua boys say their father never missed a Turkey Bowl game. 

With his photo there, facing the action, his sons say, in a way, he still hasn’t. 

“It’s giving me goosebumps right now just talking about,” said Casey Molifua. “Just to feel his presence.” 

While it would have been easy to cancel the game without its founder, the Molifua brothers agree that continuing the tradition is what their father would have wanted. 

“He’s not here with us, but this tradition is part of him – and is him,” said Mateo Molifua, the eldest brother. “It’s one of the ways we keep his memory alive.” 

The brothers say they plan to continue the tradition of the Turkey Bowl, no matter what life throws at them. 

“No matter where it is, we’re going to try and do it no matter what,” said Ethan Molifua. “I don’t see this dying any time soon.”