At Saint Bernard Elementary School in Cincinnati, the students sing "Bengal Bells" before Christmas, combining their local NFL team with the holiday carol.
Each of those students had a reason to sing the song with a little more enthusiasm as the school let out for its Christmas break this year. Two of those Bengals, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and wide receiver A.J. Green, came to the school with more than 300 bicycles -- one for every student to take home.
Kirkpatrick was a prep standout at Gadsden City High School before playing at Alabama and becoming a first-round draft choice of Cincinnati in 2012.
"I come from where most of these kids come from," Kirkpatrick said. "... I just wanted these kids to know that anything is possible no matter what situation you're in or where you come from. You got people who love you and make sure you take advantage of it."
Throughout the year, professional athletes with Alabama roots have found ways to give back to their communities through their foundations, in conjunction with their teams and via a variety of charitable organizations. And the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a focal point for the efforts of many of the pros.
Like Kirkpatrick, pros from Alabama's high schools and colleges have been emulating Santa Claus over the past month. Here are three more examples of those players who went about delivering Christmas cheer, with an emphasis on children:
New Orleans Pelicans power forward DeMarcus Cousins has transformed into Santa Cuz for youngsters at Christmas throughout his NBA career. This year, though, brought a new experience. With his trade at the NBA All-Star break last season, Cousins brought Santa Cuz to New Orleans, and the promixity to his hometown of Mobile allowed Cousins to attend the twin event held annually in the Port City this year, too.
Cousins took 100 children on a Christmas shopping spree at the Target in Metairie, Louisiana, then did it again with a new group of youngsters at Target in Mobile. Cousins was a prep star at LeFlore High School.
"Holidays are a special time for kids, and it's kind of a stereotypical thing for kids to kind of expect gifts," Cousins said. "Every family is not fortunate enough to do that, so I just try to play my part to help some of these families and help some of these kids enjoy their holidays a little more. I enjoy seeing the smiles on kids' faces."
Each child received a $200 gift card to shop plus two tickets to a Pelicans game.
New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram annually holds a Christmas shopping event for children of incarcerated parents, a personal issue for Alabama's 2009 Heisman Trophy winner. He works with the Mentoring Children of Promise Program through Volunteers of America. The program matches adults with youngsters who have a parent in prison "in hopes of giving these young people extra acceptance, attention, encouragement, guidance and hope."
"The odds are that there is over a 60 percent chance that the same situation may happen to someone who has had a parent incarcerated," Ingram said.
Some of Ingram's New Orleans teammates turned out to help the children spend their $100 gift cards.
Ingram told the youngsters to "stay focused and confident. Do well in school and set high goals. Keep positive people in your corner at all times. Always put God first. Lastly, listen to your loved ones."
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton followed Ingram as the Heisman Trophy winner in 2010, helping Auburn win the BCS national championship after Ingram did the same for Alabama the previous year.
For the fourth straight year, Newton took Santa Cam's Surprise Sleigh around the Charlotte, North Carolina, community on the Tuesday before Christmas.
"I look forward to it -- to give back to the community, to be able to talk to everybody and kind of get in a good Christmas spirit," Newton said.
This year, Newton distributed gifts from the Cam Newton Foundation and Food Lion.
At Sedgefield Middle School, he gave the 105 teachers and staff members $150 Visa gift cards. At Second Harvest Food Bank, Newton surprised 200 senior citizens at a holiday lunch and presented a $25,000 donation to the food bank. Then at Second Harvest's mobile food bank at Devonshire Elementary School, Newton had another $25,000 check to present. At Thomasboro Academy, where parents thought they were coming to a PTA appreciation dinner, Newton and a chef prepared the meal, Food Lion gave away bags of groceries and the 25 families each received a $500 Food Lion gift card.
Santa Cam's Surprise Sleigh has joined Cam's Thanksgiving Jam among Newton's charitable endeavors. At Newton's fifth annual Thanksgiving event on Nov. 20 at Topgolf Charlotte, more than 800 economically disadvantaged children and their families shared a Thanksgiving meal, and each family also received a second Thanksgiving dinner to prepare at home.
Newton was one of the pro players from the state who made sure families had a Thanksgiving dinner.
Panthers defensive end Mario Addison (Tarrant, Troy), Los Angeles Rams inside linebacker Mark Barron (St. Paul's, Alabama), Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell (Alabama State) and Oakland Raiders center Rodney Hudson (B.C. Rain) were among the others who paid particular attention to Thanksgiving.
Large-scale holiday efforts are only part of the way that a number of the state's professional athletes try to connect with communities. Quieter outreach is being done throughout the year. For example, Miami Dolphins running back and former Alabama standout Kenyan Drake is a regular visitor to the Harold Reitman Boys and Girls Club in Fort Lauderdale, where he takes time on his day off to play games, work on crafts and talk with the youngsters.
"There's nothing special I'm doing," Drake said. "Just trying to help a little."
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.