Rick Ford and his wife Tina, owners of the Little River Inn, 618 Boston St., have been opening their restaurant’s doors each Thanksgiving morning for the past 31 years.

The breakfast menu won’t be any different today, Ford said, but the tables will be filled with high school football coaches, referees, players, ex-players, and others starting at 5 a.m.

The rush will likely come closer to 9 a.m., with up to 50 customers inside, Ford estimates.

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The Fords have three children: two sons and one daughter, all of whom were involved with sports at Classical High School. They, too, will be present for Thanksgiving breakfast.

“We’re a football family,” Ford said, adding that he expects lots of former Classical and English players to stop in as well.

The Fords will be checking out at around 10 a.m. to attend the Classical and English football game at 10:15 a.m.; the restaurant will remain open until 10:30 a.m.

And when it comes to Thanksgiving meal conversation, Ford said he would take one topic off the table: “Keep politics out,” he said with a laugh.