Fans of the Minnesota Vikings were relentless in supporting tight end Kyle Rudolph when it came to the Walter Payton Man of the Year Charity Challenge.
If you were a fan of the Minnesota Vikings on social media, odds are that you saw the hashtag #WPMOYChallenge with tight end Kyle Rudolph‘s name attached to it between Dec. 6 and Jan. 13.
These votes for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Charity Challenge came in massive numbers and the support of fans earned him a win which granted $25,000 from Nationwide to go to the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital.
According to the official website of the Minnesota Vikings, the support Rudolph received overwhelmed the two-time Pro Bowl player and one-time Pro Bowl MVP.
"“It would have been easy to continue getting votes with the steam of a playoff run, but the season ended before we all thought it would,” Rudolph told Vikings.com. “And yet, Vikings fans still kind of took it as their personal mission, almost as if, ‘Well, we can win something. Let’s go out and win this for Kyle.’ ”"
Rudolph also noted many non-Vikings fans who were touched by the Dear Kyle video which featured the tight end reading stories from those whose lives were impacted due to his charitable and humanitarian efforts. Those votes added up to get him the win for the Charity Challenge.
The 2018 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will be announced on Feb. 2 on CBS during the NFL Honors ceremony. The winner will have a quarter of a million dollars donated to United Way in his name to expand Character Playbook across the United States and up to $250,000 donated to the winner’s charity of choice. Those who aren’t chosen as winners will have $50,000 donated to United Way as well as the charity of their choice.
As things stand, fans should be feeling pretty good that Kyle Rudolph can get a win, but there are many great individuals up for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Still, it’s great to see the tight end getting some recognition for the great work he does off the football field.