MINNEAPOLIS — Rudolph lives up to his holiday-themed name by providing holiday cheer to the patients and families University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital.
"Rudy's Holiday Huddle" was a chance for the patients to celebrate the holidays with Vikings players and each other. Kyle Rudolph and his wife Jordan sponsored the huddle.
“The Christmas one is always fun,” Rudolph said. “To have Santa Claus there and a bunch of presents, good food, decorations and cookies in the lobby. And always being able to visit the rooms and see the kids, ask them what’s at the top of their Christmas list and just try to bring a smile to their faces during the holiday season.”
Sam Bradford, Jeff Locke, David Morgan, Nick Easton, Zac Kerin, Willie Beavers, Stefon Diggs and Cedric Thompson were also at the hospital for the huddle.
Vikings alumni Ryan Hoag, Tyrone Carter and Tuineau Alipate joined as well.
Viktor the Viking took selfies with the patients, a small choir sang carols and a buffet was provided.
Patients were given purple Minnesota Vikings license plates to get autographed.
Stefon Diggs even played some of the kids in Madden!
Kyle Rudolph, Eric Kendricks and a handful of other Vikings teammates handed out gifts, signed autographs and posed for pictures with the kids.
“It makes it even better when we get asked by one of our teammates to do the visit,” Jeff Locke said, who makes several visits to children’s hospitals throughout the year. “We respond to that and say, ‘We’re there. We want to help you out any way we can.’”
Rudolph said the holiday event means that much more to him when he sees the amount of patients that are at the hospital for the holidays.
“If they’re at the hospital right now, it means they don’t have the opportunity to leave,” Rudolph said. “I honestly wish we would go on these holiday visits and there wouldn’t be anyone there. That would be the best-case scenario. But unfortunately there’s still families and patients there, and we just try to bring the holidays to them and make this time as enjoyable for them as we can.”