NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
Essential memories are made every year during the holiday season, especially for children who eagerly wait to see what might be under the tree on Christmas Day.
For NFL players, they are always in work mode even during vacations. But that doesn’t mean they don’t remember their favorite Christmas memories when spending time with family.
Raising Cane’s asked NFL stars to help kids across the country during their sixth annual Holiday Bike Ride, where they distributed more than 4,000 branded bikes and helmets to youth charities.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
Tee Higgins flexes with a kid from the Boys & Girls Club at the Raising Cane event. (raising the cane)
Seeing the joy of receiving a new bike, players like Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown couldn’t help but think of one of his “highlight” childhood memories at Christmas when he received a big gift.
“Looking back, getting my PlayStation 2 from my parents was everything to me at the time,” Brown told PK Press Club Digital. “I had the NCAA, one of those games with the Texas Longhorns on the cover. That really stuck with me and it stuck with me. It was one of those highlights as a kid that stuck with me.”
In Cincinnati, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins was all smiles as he showed up at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati to see all the kids he was helping make an impact with their new wheels. Growing up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Higgins came through the Boys & Girls Club, which is why events like these are so special to him personally.
VIKINGS STARS EXPLAIN HOW COACH’S SPECIAL PRE-GAME MESSAGE WON A 4-GAME LOSSING STREAK
And when it comes to Christmas memories, he always thinks about that gift his dad gave him that was a little more powerful than just a bike – literally.
“My favorite gift was my first dirt bike that my dad gave me. I rode that dirt bike for about 10 days straight,” Higgins told PK Press Club Digital.
But Higgins also remembers the first set of wheels he received, thanks to the Boys & Girls Club.
Josh Metellus and Andrew Van Ginkel of the Minnesota Vikings pose with a child during the Raising Cane bike contest. (raising the cane)
“When I was their age, I remember riding my first bike at the Boys and Girls Club. It made me smile, so it made me the happiest boy in the world,” he added.
And sometimes it’s a gift as simple as a basketball that can have a major impact. Growing up in North Miami, Minnesota Vikings linebacker Josh Metellus told his mother how much he really wanted a new basketball player to work on his game away from home in hopes of making the college team.
“It’s funny, I found a picture of it not too long ago because Netflix was asking for it,” Metellus told PK Press Club Digital. “I got a basketball when I was a little older, maybe in middle school, right before high school. The fact that my mom was OK with it – I kept telling her, ‘I want a new basketball.’ That she would go out of her way to use this as a gift, knowing that it would make me happy instead of just giving me a toy or something that any middle schooler wanted. All I wanted was a basketball so I could play and try to be on that middle school basketball team. My mother, like many times, showed me that she cared about what I was thinking and was willing to do anything to make me happy. It was a really cool moment.
“I saw the photo with the basketball and I remember how happy I was and how much it impacted me. I once got a phone for Christmas and it was really cool, but the basketball stayed with me because I was going out and I was able to play immediately.”
While receiving gifts, especially impactful ones, is great this time of year, it’s the spirit of giving back and helping those in need that really matters.
Bundle FOX One and FOX Nation to stream the entire FOX Nation library, plus live FOX News, Sports and Entertainment at our lowest price of the year. Offer ends January 4, 2026. (Fox One; Fox Nation)
“I think life is way bigger than football and us as football players,” Metellus teammate Andrew Van Ginkel told PK Press Club Digital. “So there’s an opportunity to come back into the community and just be there for kids who have been through a lot and need that extra hope that can help them get through these tough times.
“For me, Christmas is all about giving thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ and it means a lot about giving back and doing good works in the community. It’s a small part of who I am and what I want to do as a person and the impact I want to make.”
