Dec. 20, 2004

By Adam Lucas

The season-capping win over Duke didn't just earn the Tar Heels a bowl berth and recapture the Victory Bell. It was also the foundation for one of the football team's least-known--but most-appreciated--acts of the season.

After practice the week of the game against the Blue Devils, a simple announcement was made: as part of the Carolina athletics "Share Your Christmas" program, members of the traveling squad were asked to consider donating a portion of their meal money for the day of the game ($10 per person) so that the team might purchase gifts for underprivileged families in the Chapel Hill area. Players who weren't on the traveling roster were also able to make a donation of their own choosing.

Many players kicked in the entire $10. And by the time the last dollar was counted--with head coach John Bunting, who first became deeply involved with charity work while a player for the Philadelphia Eagles and has carried that interest over to his work with the Tar Heels, adding a significant three-figure donation--the Tar Heels had raised their most money ever, nearly $1,200.

A selection of players that included Doug Justice, Madison Hedgecock, Greg Warren, and Warren Green took the proceeds to Wal-Mart last week, armed with wish lists from the families, which were provided to Michelle Greco, UNC's coordinator of student-athlete volunteer programs. Greco coordinates the event for every team on Carolina's campus, with hundreds of gifts flowing from Carolina athletics to families throughout the Triangle.

The players discovered they had a good problem: they had too much money.

"We kept checking things off the list, and when we added it up we realized we had a lot more money to spend at the end," Justice said. "So we kept going back and picking out other toys that weren't on the list."

Of course, not every item pulled off the rack eventually made it into the shopping cart.

"Madison made a few suggestions I had to veto," Justice said with a laugh. "He kept saying, `We've got to get them the John Deere hat.' I had to say no to that one."

Even without the hat, they still made a haul, and the presents completely filled one corner of the Kenan Football Center recruiting room on Monday afternoon. Usually used for entertaining high school-age football prospects, on this day the room would have been more entertaining to a younger set. From a singing Elmo doll to an educational Leap Pad device ("The kids don't mind educational toys if they're fun," Justice wisely pointed out), the boxes were piled to almost linebacker height. One in particular drew Justice's attention.

"I think the wagon has got to be my favorite," he said, pointing to a Radio Flyer model waiting to be wrapped. "I had one a lot like this when I was little, except mine was metal."

For Justice, the handful of presents he wrapped after Monday's pre-bowl practice were his first wrapping jobs of the holiday season--he says he's a notorious Christmas Eve shopper. But the Share Your Christmas gifts couldn't cut it that close; they'll be delivered by the football office this week so they can be under the tree on Christmas morning.

"As football players, we're blessed to be here and be on scholarship," Justice said. "We get a lot of things. It's gratifying that we can do this for families that don't have the funds or opportunity to get the gifts they need."

Notes: The Tar Heels went through their first walk-through devoted exclusively to Boston College on a chilly Monday morning. "We were specifically working just on Boston College today," Bunting said. "We've been trying to do a lot of football stuff up until now." The fierce Chapel Hill cold eventually drove the Heels inside to the indoor practice facility...When the players and coaches assemble in Charlotte on the afternoon of Dec. 25, one of the highlights of the team Christmas party is expected to be a rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" by the coaching staff. There are some rumblings in the Kenan Football Center that co-defensive coordinator John Gutekunst, who is known to punctuate some practice field instruction with dance moves, may be the best singer on the staff, but Bunting said--with a bit of a smile--the part of the song assigned to offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill could be "the key to winning."...There will also be some serious moments on Christmas night, including a program-wide meeting during which Bunting will outline his expectations of all players for the week in Charlotte: "We're going to be absolutely squeaky clean and classy, the way it should be," he said.

Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. His book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about the book, click here.