An Important Thanksgiving Message from the Kentucky Football Team

Thanksgiving means something different to football players. For many, this is a holiday where people get together, eat too much good food, relax, and enjoy watching the pigskin move around the gridiron. The players don’t get the same luxuries, although it’s clear that there are plenty of Kentucky football players who appreciate something we all share during this holiday.

After Wednesday’s practice, each position coach hosted the players for a family get-together at their respective homes. Kentucky will go through its usual Thursday walk-through today at an earlier time, giving the players off for the afternoon and evening.

Unless you are from nearby or your family decides to make a weekend trek to Lexington for the holiday, the Kentucky football players do not experience a traditional Thanksgiving with family.

Daveren Rayner was an exception to that norm last year. The linebacker was redshirting, giving him time to spend with family, in what was his most memorable Thanksgiving.

“When I redshirted, I was able to go back home. I got to go home, and I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family and got to see my Pops. And that was my last Thanksgiving with my Pops,” the Kentucky linebacker shared earlier this week. “That one, that’s the one I’ve been thinking about the most, you know, with it being that time of year again.”

His father, Averen, passed away in April.

Jager Burton overheard the story Rayner shared. It made him reflect on the grief he’s still experiencing after suffering loss.

“My roommate was Ben Christman last year, and he obviously passed away at UNLV. He came to my family Thanksgiving last year. I was actually talking to his mom, like two days ago, just about how he got to spend his last Thanksgiving with my family,” said Burton.

Guilt may not be the right word, but the Kentucky offensive lineman was clearly still filled with emotion. It served as a reminder to this sportswriter that even though the sport has changed drastically, these are still young adults who are in the middle of a life-altering time that can be incredibly challenging. Despite whatever the difficult circumstances may be, there is a commendable perspective this senior leader wanted to share with everyone on Thanksgiving.

“I just want to encourage people — I heard Daveren talking about a similar situation — enjoy the time, cherish the time,” said Burton. “You never know what’s going to happen to someone. I look back on that now, and at the time, it wasn’t a big deal. It’s just a teammate coming to Thanksgiving. But now I look back on it as, like, just the day I got to spend with him. I mean, I look back on it and wish I could go back to that day.”

Families are complicated, but you only have one of them. Enjoy all of the time you can with them, and have a blessed Thanksgiving Day.