A Record-Breaking Day to Remember
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The celebration on the sideline with his teammates was sweet.
The moment Michael Irvin, a Miami legend, asked him for a sideline selfie was surreal.
The ovation from the crowd at Hard Rock Stadium was loud and so very appreciative.
But it was postgame, when Xavier Restrepo saw his mother, that the enormity of what he’d done truly resonated with the fifth-year senior who’d grown up hoping to be a Hurricane.
During the course of Miami’s 53-31 comeback win over Duke on Saturday afternoon, Restrepo passed the likes of Reggie Wayne and Santana Moss to become Miami’s all-time leading receiver.
Restrepo finished the day with eight catches for 146 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in the win and ultimately, left Hard Rock Stadium with 2,573 career receiving yards – a number no one at Miami had ever posted.
Until now.
“I have no words for it. God’s just amazing. God’s great. He is the greatest. He’s the creator and there’s nothing else to say,” Restrepo said of his history-making performance. “It’s just so crazy that I’m now at the top of that list, you know? Speaking about it, imagining it and then doing it are different things, you know? I’m just super grateful that I got this opportunity with an amazing team.”
While her son was rewriting the Miami record book, Ashley Padgett sat in stands at Hard Rock Stadium, surrounded by friends and family who were on-hand for Saturday’s game.
More than once, television cameras caught Padgett smiling and wiping away tears, while nearby, her husband, Jaime Restrepo, cheered each one of their son’s catches.
For both of them, the journey to this moment was one to cherish.
Their son arrived at Miami a four-star prospect who’d played on both sides of the ball in high school. He’d also recorded a 4.5 GPA that captured the attention of more than a few Ivy League programs including Harvard, Brown and Princeton.
But Restrepo – who is extremely close to not only both his parents, but his younger brother and sister, too – wanted to stay home and play at Miami.
He made it happen, signing with the Hurricanes in 2020 and since, has endured a series of challenges to make his dream of wearing orange and green a reality.
He weathered a global pandemic, dealt with injuries and has seen coaches and teammates leave the program during his time in Coral Gables.
Through it all, though, he stayed loyal to Miami, his parents providing support every step of the way, including, of course, on Saturday.
“It’s overwhelming. That’s all I can say. This feeling is overwhelming,” Padgett said. “He’s been here for five years, and it’s been a journey. He never thought about going anywhere else. Never second-guessed his decision. Never second-guessed his place here. Always kept his head down, kept working, and at the end of the day, God just gave him that extra push that he needed. The confidence, the empowerment and everything worked out as it should. So, it’s just so overwhelming, but at the same time, we’re so thankful. We’re so blessed. We love the University of Miami and now, his name will be in the record book forever. It’s super amazing. Super Amazing.”
As special as Restrepo’s record-breaking day was for the wide receiver and his family, his teammates and coaches were plenty proud, too.
“Xavier, I think, has an impact on our program every day. Today was special for the team because of the win, number one. [That’s] the most important thing, and for him becoming the leading receiver in Miami Hurricane history is also just a monumental accomplishment,” Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said. “So, credit to him for all that hard work. Credit to him and his family to all the sacrifices made to allow him to one day become a Miami Hurricane and again to his teammates for being such a great supporting cast because, again, number one, the [win] is the most important thing and, number two, being the all-time leading receiver at Miami is a really big thing.”
Said quarterback Cam Ward, who himself added to the Miami record book when he threw his 29th touchdown pass of the season and tied the single season record set by Steve Walsh in 1988, “He’s a savvy receiver. … I think the things you’re all seeing with me and X right now, just us prospering, [is] because we’re on the same page every game. We’ve got a lot more work to do. He had a couple plays he wishes he had back. I had a lot of plays I wish I had back. So, at the end of the day, we haven’t played our best ball, but it’s coming for sure.”
For his part, Restrepo agreed with his quarterback’s assessment.
As well as the day went for both of them, Restrepo had some uncharacteristic drops, and Ward didn’t always hit all of his targets.
But there are still opportunities for them to get better and for Miami to reach its goal.
“I think the most important thing right now is the team success,” Restrepo said after the win with the ball he caught when he made history sitting nearby. “Without any of the team success, none of this would matter at all, you know? So, I think us just going 1-0 each and every single week, that’s the utmost important thing.”
