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As his designation as the Minnesota Vikings’ candidate for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. . .for the second year in a row. . .would indicate, Kyle Rudolph is a pretty charitable and giving guy. This is a trait that certainly couldn’t be characterized as bad, but it did end up with a pretty unsavory character pulling a fast one on the hero of Sunday’s Wild Card victory.
In the locker room scrum after the game, a media member. . .who Rudolph has stated is not “a local media member I see daily or a national reporter”. . .asked if they could have the gloves Rudolph was wearing when he caught the game-winning touchdown for a charity benefit. As you’d expect, Rudolph not only gave him the gloves, but autographed them for him as well.
That, unfortunately, led to this:
I saw this.. it’s disappointing. A member of the media in the locker room after the game asked if he could have my gloves for a charity benefit, so I said of course and I will even sign them for you! Well he got me, sold on eBay 3 days later.. https://t.co/JCTO0OWM5n
— Kyle Rudolph (@KyleRudolph82) January 8, 2020
It turns out that by “charity benefit,” what the media member in question apparently meant was “selling them on eBay to make a quick buck for myself.” Because sometimes, you know, people suck.
The person who bought the gloves is a Vikings fan by the name of Jason King. Jason saw what Rudolph said about the situation, and together it appears they’re turning it into a positive.
Hey Jason, really cool of you to do this! @UMNChildrens will greatly appreciate it and I will make sure to get you my pair from this weekends game!
— Kyle Rudolph (@KyleRudolph82) January 8, 2020
If you like to help me raise money for @kylerudolph’s charity, you can Venmo or PayPal me and I’ll will give 100% of everything to the @UMNChilderns hospital. My pp Jasonking@colosseumconcete.com Venmo kingy19
— Jason King (@kingy1940) January 8, 2020
Thank you Skol Vikes #WPMOYChallenge Rudolph pic.twitter.com/hUJfUzjnPk
I have a feeling that, between stories like this one and the actions of people like Jason King, the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital is going to end up getting a whole lot more than the $375.50 that the gloves wound up going for on eBay.
So, a bad situation is going to end up having a happy ending after all. Sure, the media hack that pulled this stunt is still trash, but at least his trashiness will be counteracted by a significant number of decent folks out there that want to help children rather than line their own pockets.