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Core memories are made every year during the holiday season, especially for children anxiously awaiting to see what might be under the tree on Christmas Day.
For players in the NFL, they’re still in work mode even during the holidays. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t reminiscing about their favorite Christmas memories as they hang around family.
Raising Cane’s had NFL stars helping impact children across the nation during their sixth annual holiday bike giveaway, where they gave out over 4,000 branded bikes and helmets to charitable youth organizations.
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Tee Higgins flexes with a Boys & Girls Club child during Raising Cane’s event. (Raising Cane’s)
As they saw the joy of getting a new bike, players like Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown couldn’t help thinking about one of his “peak” childhood memories at Christmas when he received a big gift.
“Thinking back, getting my PlayStation 2 from my parents was everything for me at the time,” Brown told Fox News Digital. “I got NCAA, one of those games with the Texas Longhorns on the cover. It was very impactful to me and it stuck to me. It was one of those peak moments as a kid that stuck out to me.”
In Cincinnati, Bengals receiver Tee Higgins was all smiles when he showed up at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati to see all the children he was helping impact with their new wheels. Growing up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Higgins went through the Boys & Girls Club, which is why events like these are so special to him personally.
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And when it comes to Christmas memories, he always thinks about that one gift his father got him that was a little more powerful than just a bike – literally.
“My favorite gift was my first dirt bike that my dad had got me. I rode that dirt bike for like 10 days straight,” Higgins told Fox News Digital.
But Higgins also remembers the first set of wheels he got, which was through the Boys & Girls Club.
Josh Metellus and Andrew Van Ginkel of the Minnesota Vikings pose with a child at Raising Cane’s bike giveaway. (Raising Cane’s)
“When I was their age, I remember my first bike at the Boys and Girls Club. That made me smile, so it made me the happiest boy alive,” he added.
And sometimes, it’s a gift as simple as a basketball that can make a major impact. Growing up in North Miami, Minnesota Vikings linebacker Josh Metellus told his mother how badly he wanted a new basketball to work on his game outside the house in hopes of making the middle school team.
“It’s funny, I found a picture of it not too long ago because Netflix was asking for it,” Metellus told Fox News Digital. “I got a basketball when I was a little bit older, maybe middle school, right before high school. The fact that my mom was willing — I kept telling her, ‘I want a new basketball.’ For her to go out of her way to use that as my gift, knowing that would make me happy instead of just giving me a toy or something any middle school kid wanted. All I wanted was a basketball so I can play and try to make this middle school basketball team. My mom, like many times, showed me she cared what I thought about and was willing to do whatever to make me happy. That was a really cool moment.
“I saw the picture with the basketball and I remember how happy I was and how much that stuck with me. I’ve gotten a phone for Christmas one time and that was really cool, but the basketball stuck with me because I was going outside and I got to play immediately.”
While receiving gifts, especially those impactful ones, are great this time of year, it’s the spirit of giving back and helping those in need that truly matters.
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“I think life’s a lot bigger than football and us as football players,” Metellus’ teammate Andrew Van Ginkel told Fox News Digital. “So, any way that we can get back in the community and just be there for kids that have been through a lot and need that extra piece of hope that can help them get through these difficult times.
“To me, Christmas is all about giving thanks to our lord Jesus Christ and it means a lot to give back and do good works in the community. It’s a small piece about who I am and want to do as a person and the impact I want to make.”
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