Earl Mitchell has a Christmas-time memory of Santa Claus arriving where he lived and taking pictures with him and the other kids.
There was no chimney or cozy fireplace involved. The meet-and-greet took place in the community room of a Salvation Army family housing center in downtown Houston where he and his sister lived from time to time when they were growing up.
"Just being raised by a single mother, you kind of end up in predicaments like that," Mitchell, the 49ers nose tackle, said this week as he prepares to play a game in his home city.