John Urschel Gives a Fan a Special Christmas Gift

Former Penn State football offensive lineman and current MIT Ph.D. candidate in mathematics John Urschel was in the giving mood this Christmas.

The 2013 Walter Campbell Trophy winner, an award otherwise known as the “Academic Heisman,” received an email from the dad of a Penn State football fan and West Chester University student, Xavier Briel. Briel’s father told Urschel that his son was both a math major and Penn State football fan, and so Urschel decided to play Santa Claus this Christmas. The first team Academic All-American, who earned  bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics from Penn State, gifted Briel the first undergraduate math textbook that he used at Penn State.

Within the book, Urschel even wrote a message of encouragement for Briel: “I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!”

Briel took to Twitter to thank Urschel for his random act of kindness. He said that he would never forget Urschel’s gift.

So my dad emailed John Urschel and told him I was a Math major and a big Penn State fan and he sent me his first ever Calculus book . Thank you so much @JohnCUrschel I will never forget this #WeAre pic.twitter.com/DSC0arrqM0

— X (@Xavier_Briel) December 25, 2017

And Urschel even took the time to respond to Briel, wishing him a merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas

— John Urschel (@JohnCUrschel) December 26, 2017

Urschel retired from the NFL in July, ending his three-year career with the Baltimore Ravens. In what was somewhat of a surprise move, Urschel’s retirement announcement came just a couple days after a study was released linking football careers to more severe cases of CTE. Urschel said the study was not the direct reason of his retirement, but caused him to consider what he wanted to doin the future. Even as an NFL player for the Ravens, Urschel maintained his status as a full-time Ph.D. candidate at MIT, and he continues that pursuit of a doctoral degree.