Listen To: Artie Donovan's Christmas

For a guy who has spent more than 85 years on this earth, he could go on for eternity telling stories. Arthur Donovan, an NFL Defensive Tackle, joined the Baltimore Colts in the early 1950's. The kid from the Bronx never left Baltimore. Artie, affectionately known as ''Fatso'' says he has seen a lot of Christmases and remembers the first time that he played Santa Claus. He was in the third grade at St. Phillip Neri School on 202 nd Street in the Bronx. Mr. and Mrs. Donovan were in the audience of a school Christmas play. As Artie tells it, he peaked out from behind the curtain before the show began. His father saw him and ran out of the auditorium in horror.

Arthur also tells the story of how Christmas for him always took place at his grandmother's house in The Bronx where 12 of his cousins lived on two streets in the neighborhood. He recalls that because he was the oldest grandchild, his grandmother would be proud of the fact that he was an alter boy serving Christmas Eve Mass. Donovan says the reality was that he was a ''bench warmer.'' Sitting on a little bench in the church for two hours adding ''I didn't even know the prayers''

One of his fondest Christmas memories was in 1958 just days before the Baltimore Colts played the New York Giants in Yankee Stadium for the world championship. It was a contest that has become known as ''The Greatest Game Ever Played.'' In preparation for that big game, the Colts were to practice on Christmas Day. That was no problem for the veteran players but the wives of some of the ''young rebel'' players as Arthur calls them didn't want any part of that. Arthur said he told them to ''stick it'' because the team had worked too long and too hard not to be fully prepared for this game. Practice was held on Christmas Day, 1958 and the Colts beat the Giants to become the ''champions of the world.''

Arthur says his all time favorite Christmas gift was a set of Lionel trains that he still has. With that comes the memory of how he left the transformer on one night and nearly burned a hole in his grandmother's rug.

And today, If you ask ''Fatso'' what his Christmas menu consists of he will look at you with a funny grin and immediately bark: ''Lasagna, kosher hot dogs or Italian cold cut....and of course Schlitz beer!''