Purdue's Caleb Furst Talks About Fun Role as 'Buddy the Elf'
Over the last three years, Purdue forward Caleb Furst has really gotten into the holiday spirit. He's been promoted as "Buddy" from the movie, Elf, in an effort to get fans to donated canned food items for a local charity. The light-hearted and fun clips that have surfaced from Purdue's creative team have become a fan favorite during the month of December.
This week, Purdue released its latest clip of "Caleb the Elf," as the athletic department hosts its annual food drive. If fans bring five or more canned food items to Mackey Arena on Sunday for the Boilermakers' game against Maryland, they'll receive a "Caleb the Elf" poster.
🧝♂️ ELF is here on Sunday!
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) December 3, 2024
Donate 5 canned goods on Sunday and receive a Caleb Furst ELF poster. Let's break last year's record of 15,850 pounds donated! pic.twitter.com/K54fnMmedl
Furst gets a lot of the praise for these unique videos, but he didn't want to accept too much of the accolades.
"I have to give all the credit to the creative department, they do a great job," Furst said. "They're awesome ... it makes it easy for me because I just go out and do what they say."
As a result of Furst's willingness to get into the "Buddy" character, Purdue has been able to raise thousands of pounds of canned food items, which benefits Food Finders in Lafayette. That's the best part of the entire skit, he says.
"Yeah, it's awesome. It's for a good cause and that's ultimately the mindset and the goal behind it," Furst said. "I think we've been pretty successful in raising a lot of canned goods for people in need."
One of the funniest aspects of Furst's appearances in these clips is his likeness to actor Will Ferrell. That's why coach Matt Painter believes he's the perfect fit to play the role.
"Some people think that's acting and some people don't, who know him," Painter said, laughing. "He's very outgoing after he gets comfortable with you. He's not going to be outgoing until he gets to that comfort level.
"But those are pretty cool. I just saw the last one and it was pretty good."
Furst has made it clear that he enjoys participating in the videos. He loves that he plays such an important role in Purdue's food drive during the holiday season. But what does the senior think about the actual movie, Elf?
"Yeah, I like it," he said. "I'm more of A Christmas Story guy, personally. But yeah, Elf is a good movie. I'll give it props."
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