LITTLE ROCK — Like many of us, Arkansas’ football commitments will spend time with their families while enjoying the traditional and not so traditional Thanksgiving meal Thursday.
Nowata, Okla. defensive/ offensive lineman Austin Beck will be traveling south to Prescott to enjoy Thanksgiving with his cousins, one of which is an Army cadet on break from West Point.
“Once my dad gets off work on Wednesday (we will) head down there to relax and spend time with family.” Beck said.
Beck will enjoy his favorite Thanksgiving meat with an usual twist.
“My dad makes a really, really good ham and my aunt makes a really good sweet potato crunch,” Beck said. “Then I kind eat them together. I’ve always done that. I would eat ham every day if I could. It’s wonderful.”
Beck said he’ll be a noncontributor to dinner.
“I’m not the greatest cook in the world,” Beck said. “Raman noodles are about all I do.”
Running back /defensive back Kelvin Fisher Jr. of Gilbert (Ariz.) Higley and his family will gather at his grandparents’ house to eat and watch football.
“We’ll relax as a family and take time to give thanks for everything that we have.” Fisher said.
His mother’s sweet potato casserole is Fisher’s favorite Thanksgiving dish.
“She only makes it for Thanksgiving or either my birthday or my dad’s birthday,” he said.
Texas tight end Chris Barnett comes from a football family. He will spend the day with his father Elzie Barnett, the head coach at Dallas Maceo Smith, his brother Eryon, who is a redshirt freshman at Texas, and cousin Jared Barnett, who’s a freshman quarterback at Iowa State.
“We’ll probably get together with the Barnett family and just talk about football because we’re all around football with my dad being a coach,” Barnett said. “My cousin’s dad is the offensive coordinator at my dad’s high school.”
Barnett, of Hurst L.D. Bell High School, will be in front of the television.
“Just being able to eat and gorge on food while watching football is always fun.” Barnett said.
The Barnett’s will feast on a unique combination of turkey and ham.
“We’ll cut up the turkey and we’ll mix it up with ham so it’s like a turkey and ham mix with gravy,” said Barnett, who finishes up his dinner with his grandmother’s chocolate cake. “It’s like extra good. After they cook and let it sit and blend it together and let it sit you have turkey that has a little bit of a ham taste and the ham has a little bit of turkey taste. Then you put some mashed potatoes and some rolls with that, woowee!!”
His mother’s dressing along with his father’s turkey is what defensive lineman Demarcus Hodge is looking forward to sharing with about 25 other family members at his home.
Hodge, of Monroe (La.) Neville, likes his sister’s pecan pie but wasn’t always confident of her cooking ability.
“I’ve never seen her cook it,” Hodge said. “I didn’t trust her cooking at first but it’s turned out good, so I trust her.”
Hodge names several things he’s thankful for, including his scholarship to Arkansas.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to play at the next level and have all of my college tuition paid for,” he said.
Offensive tackle Brey Cook and Springdale Har-Ber will practice Thursday morning for his team’s Class 7A semifinal playoff matchup with Bentonville on Friday night before enjoying Thanksgiving at his grandparents.
“We always eat Thanksgiving lunch and we have a tradition of playing football in the back yard and sometimes play some basketball,” Cook said.
Being able to partake of his grandmother’s green bean casserole is a special treat for Cook.
“I love it,” Cook said. “I always have. We only have it about two times a year, on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The next couple of months ought to be great.”
Cook plans to excuse himself from the kitchen.
“I sometimes try and help my grandma cook the turkey, but I don’t know what I’m doing,” said Cook, who plans to end his day with his girlfriend and her family. “I leave it up to the professionals.”
E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports, Pages 21 on 11/23/2010