Athletes' Favorite Gifts to Mothers

SI Staff | May 13, 2007

Athletes' Favorite Gifts to Mothers /

Athletes' Favorite Gifts to Mothers

Candace Parker

"The best present I ever gave my mother was either when I went through our photo album and cut our pictures and made a scrap book of photos of us or when I surprised her and came home from college when she thought I wasn't going to be able to."

Edgerrin James

"The Mother's Day right after I got drafted in 1999, I made it possible for my mom to retire from the cafeteria job she was working. That was the sweetest gift of all."

Greg Biffle

"I bought my mom a trip to Darlington this weekend to see me win my third race in a row at that track."

Chipper Jones

"How about a 9,000-acre ranch? That gave my mom the opportunity to further her career in raising horses and training them and whatnot. It was a huge surprise. They [his mom and dad] were living in Florida and I said, 'Hey, how would you like to live in Texas?' [The ranch is two hours south of San Antonio.] They didn't have any clue that I was going to ask them to run the place and move and whatnot. She went from like a two-stall barn to a 30-stall barn, she's got a covered indoor arena where she can ride ... it's pretty legit. She started bawling. She knew the opportunity it was going to give her. She was ecstatic about it. She loves it."

Ryan Getzlaf

"I was born on Mother's Day. Boom! You can't do any better than that."

LaDainian Tomlinson

"I treated my mom to a day at the spa. She was there the whole day and she loved it."

Lindsey Harding

"The best gift that I gave my mom was when I went to a jewelry store and got a heart made. It was a charm that I put on a necklace so she could wear it on her neck. She still has it. I don't know if she wears it all the time, but she still has it."

Larry Hughes

"I try to make everyday like Mother's Day for my wife and mother."

Taylor Twellman

"Every gift I give is great. Every one is special. Period. But my mother Moochie says the one she remembers most is an acrostic poem I wrote in sixth grade. I don't remember what the poem said, but the first letters of each line spelled MOTHER."

Aaron Ward

"A few years ago, three buddies and I decided to treat our wives to a spa weekend trip to Mexico. Since we all had our kids around the same time, we thought it would be nice for our wives to go and relax while we stayed at home with the kids. It took a lot of convincing, but our wives finally trusted us enough to leave the kids with us. They had a great time in Mexico."

Courtney Paris

"Two years ago, my siblings and I took my mom out to dinner at her favorite restaurant, but more importantly, we bought her a new cell phone. She had had the same phone for the past 10 years and it was WAY outdated. She never thought it was a big deal and never wasted money on herself, so it was cool to get her something cool. Now she text messages all the time and sends pictures and emails from her phone. Another time, when my siblings and I were really, really young, we picked all of the flowers out of my mom's garden, wrapped them up and sold them to her as a Mother's Day gift. She bought them, it was a classic."

Dominic Hasek

"I always give [my wife] flowers for Mother's Day. You can't go wrong with flowers."

Drew Gooden

"It would have to be my art projects back in elementary school."

Trevor Hoffman

"Usually a card does it, just recognizing that Mother's Day is a special day. It's nice to acknowledge that. A card is something that's simple and to the point. I took a picture with the pink bats [a project to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation], me and my older brother, Glenn. We gave that to my Mom. I know she was excited about that."

Seimone Augustus

"I don't think it was ever anything that was an extravagant gift. Maybe a card or something like that. We always have cards and cookouts -- crawfish, crawfish bisque, shrimp, crabs, you name it, we have it -- that's how we do it in Louisiana."

Fred Smoot

"I think I was 13 years old, looking for a gift for my mom. I walked into a crafts store near where I lived and saw this angel statue, about one foot high. I really liked it. My mom loved it. And now, even though it doesn't match her furniture, she has it in her home so you see it right when you walk in the door. I'm really proud of that gift. She loved it.''

Alexi Lalas

"I get Mom flowers. Boring, I know, but it's the thought that counts, right? Plus it comes from all of us, including Bob the dog. His thought counts too. I have to cover for my delinquent brother by adding his name, because I know he'll never remember."

Eric Staal

"I think the best gift my mom ever got from me would have been the gifts and cards we used to make in school for her. Also, on some Mother's Days my brothers and I would try to make her breakfast in bed. Never really worked great but we tried!"

Jeret Peterson

For Mother's Day I always give my mom a single stem rose and a candy bar. I've done that since I was like seven or so. My sister was killed in 1987 on Mother's Day so it's a big holiday for my mom and her kids. Last year I bought her a new Weber BBQ, her rose and a candy bar.

Published May 13, 2007

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