As we slog through our holiday thank-you notes, a few things have come clear. First, the presents we never forget are the ones we least expected (or wanted). Second, we stole that first thought from a bunch of jocks who told us about the most memorable gifts they ever gave or got. And third, that egg nog sure does take the edge off.

BRIAN CARDINAL, Wizards
I got a LEGO fortress once, and that was very cool. But my worst gift is the one that's most memorable: One Christmas, my mom got me a box of Q-tips. Subtle.

MARTIN GRAMATICA, Bucs
Oh man, I'll never forget: When I was 14, my dad got my brothers and me a go-kart. It was a used one, but he fixed it up with a 50-horsepower lawn mower engine. It was pretty fast. No one ever got hurt, but my brothers had some pretty close calls.

	Was there a compass in the stock that told time?

DREW GOODEN, Grizzlies
I got a one-pump Daisy BB gun in third grade, which made me so happy. I begged for it and my dad sprung it on me -- just like in that movie, A Christmas Story. I was so juiced I shot it all day into a pillow. Never shot my eye out, either.

SEDRICK HODGE, Saints
When I was a kid, I got black church socks every year, always from older relatives. When one didn't give 'em, another did! I always opened the box hoping there'd be a cool toy inside, like a video game. But no—there'd be those black church socks.

JON RUNYAN, Eagles
When I was 3 or 4, my grandfather -- who'd been a fireman -- made me a wooden firehouse. My grandmother painted it. Most of the time, you get a toy and throw it away after a month. I had that firehouse my whole childhood.

BRIAN GRANT, Heat
I got a bike in second grade. That was hot! But the present I'll always remember was an electric razor my grandma got me my rookie year. It was so embarrassing. You see, I couldn't grow any facial hair. Not one whisker.

ALEX HOLMES, USC Football
I think the most memorable gift was one that I gave. In high school, I took a ceramics class and spent the whole semester making pots and cups. Then, I gave them to my parents for Christmas. Mom cried.

CHAD KAGY, Bike Stunt Park/Vert
I was 12 and broke. My brother was a dirt-bike rider, so I got him a quart of oil. But to make it seem like more, I got a bike box and put a 10-pound weight in with the oil. On Christmas, he was like, "No way! What'd you get me?" Then he opens it and he's like, "You suck. I've been looking for that weight!"

This article appears in the January 6 issue of ESPN The Magazine.