All I want for Christmas…
Even the top high school football players in the country have Christmas gift requests for Santa Claus.
Notre Dame commitments Alex Anzalone, Devin Butler, Mike McGlinchey and Doug Randolph all are looking forward to the holiday season and all for different reasons.
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Butler, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound three-star cornerback from Washington D.C., has only one Christmas wish.
“I want the Irish to be national champs,” he said.
Santa can’t deliver on that wish until after the holidays so Butler will have to settle for quality time with his family on Tuesday.
“We go to my great aunt’s house in D.C.,” he said. “I’ve never had a Christmas when we didn’t go over there.”
Anzalone, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound four-star linebacker from Wyomissing, Pa., has a big family day ahead of him as well.
His immediate family gathers on Christmas Eve for the Feast of the Seven Fishes, an Italian celebration that commemorates the wait for baby Jesus.
For Anzalone, every Christmas holiday reminds him of when he was four years old and received a toy drum.
“It was the best Christmas present ever,” he said.
Four-star offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey has been more practical in creating his Christmas wish list.
This year the 6-foot-8, 280-pounder from Philadelphia asked for items he’ll use to set up his Notre Dame dorm room.
“It’s about the time I’m going to desperately need them,” he said.
But, it wasn’t long ago McGlinchey had different priorities.
“My best gift was probably when my brother and I got our ping pong table when I was 14, freshman year,” he said. “We played it every day for almost a year straight.”
When it comes to four-star linebacker Doug Randolph, the 6-foot-3, 240-pounder from North Carolina has style on his mind.
“I asked for a new suit,” he said. “You’ve gotta’ be fresh.”
Santa already sent his elves to measure Randolph for his gift.
Randolph attends Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. He always looks forward to returning home for the holidays and now that he’s there, he’ll make the most of the time spent with family.
“I’m only home for a couple of days then and I go to D.C. for the Chesapeake Bowl and then Texas for the Army All-American Bowl,” he said. “After that I go back to school.”
Randolph hopes to room with Butler during the week-long preparation for the Chesapeake Bowl.
