One would assume that a good majority of Notre Dame’s students spent Thursday night at the Purcell Pavilion watching the Irish men’s basketball team upset eighth-ranked Kentucky, 64–50. Defensive tackle Louis Nix, however, was not one of them.
Why? Because he spent the evening dressed as Santa Claus.
Nix played the part of Kris Kringle for the Silent Night Silent Auction, an annual fundraiser held by the school’s Pasquerilla East dormitory benefiting the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
Where to begin with why we love this. First off, hats off to Nix for not skipping out on this to go see the Notre Dame-Kentucky basketball game. Second, the picture of Nix having his fake beard tugged by a one-year-old boy sitting on his lap is adorable.
Whether the other children present were also unafraid of the 6-foot-3, 340-pound Nix — likely the biggest Santa Claus they’ll ever lay eyes on — remains a matter of debate.
