Rueben Bain, the Miami Hurricanes’ defensive end and Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Rookie of the Year, was present. Canes receiver Isaiah Horton and offensive lineman Ian Johnson were both injured. They joined 20 children, UM athletes, coaches and assistants, coach Mario Cristobal’s wife Jessica, cheerleaders, and Sebastian the Ibis on Monday evening to continue a 23-year tradition of the Hurricanes Team Store Holiday Shopping Spree, which has honored the legacy of late Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Bryan Pata for the past 17 years.
The Coral Gables shopping spree has been organized from the beginning by store general manager Harry Rothwell and promoter Neal Bendesky.
On Monday, they gathered 15 children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami, including five from The Home Team, which is led by former UM offensive lineman Alex Pou, and gave each a $95 gift card to spend on gifts for themselves, friends, and family members.
The shopping spree was set to continue Tuesday night with 20 Police Athletic League children and five more from The Home Team. Pata’s older brother Edwin, UM’s senior analyst on defense, addresses the children each year with his “dash” concept — “discipline, attitude, sacrifice, and habits,” said Pata, emphasizing “the importance of the dash in between the day you were born and the day you go to heaven and what you do between those dashes in terms of how you make decisions.”
J.D. Arteaga and his wife Ysha, as well as golf coach Janice Olivencia, swimming coach Andy Kershaw, director of player development Jorge Baez, and Starlet Guidry, the wife of UM defensive coordinator Lance Guidry, all attended.
The number 95 represents Pata’s jersey number prior to his death in 2006. Rashaun Jones, a former Canes defensive back, was arrested in August 2021 and charged with first-degree murder; he is still awaiting trial, according to Pata. Rothwell raised $10,000 for the Pata family to cover funeral expenses and “anything else we needed” the week Bryan died, according to Edwin Pata. “It absolutely touched my family, and we’ll always be a part of it as long as we live.”
“When we were growing up, we didn’t have Christmases like a lot of kids in America,” Pata, the father of four daughters aged 5 to 11, explained. “We couldn’t afford many things. It made such a difference when we received gifts from others, and I was so grateful. It feels good to be a part of making Christmas happy for children. These kids are always getting things for other people and rarely getting anything for themselves.”
The Big Cheese, Flanigan’s, Milam’s Markets, CrepeMaker, and private donations have all contributed to the shopping spree. “Through this event, we keep Bryan’s memory alive, and it puts us in the Christmas spirit — the better-to-give-than-receive spirit,” Rothwell said. “Every guest shopper has as much fun doing this as I do.”
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