These playoff game-worn gloves ended up on eBay after Kyle Rudolph thought he donated them to a charitable auction. (@KyleRudolph82 via @flamingbagofpoo)
(FOX 9) - Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph and a big fan have turned a bad situation into a chance to help a local hospital.
It all started Wednesday afternoon when Nate Baustad tweeted at Kyle Rudolph alerting him to the fact that his game used gloves from last Sunday’s playoff game were sold on eBay for $375.50.
“I saw this…it’s disappointing,” Rudolph said in a tweet. He went on to explain that someone in the locker room, possibly a member of the media, asked for his gloves for a charity benefit, which Rudolph happily agreed to, even agreeing to sign them.
Rudolph clarified that it wasn’t a local or national reporter who took them and said the locker room was a “zoo.”
In a remarkable twist, a man named Jason King replied to Rudolph’s tweet saying he was the person who bought the gloves and offered to donate to a charity of his choice.
“Hey Jason, really cool of you to do this!” Rudolph replied. He directed King to the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. He told King he would give him the game-used gloves from this week’s Divisional Round, too.
“Thanks Kyle hopefully I can help turn this into a good situation and help raise some money for the children’s hospital,” King replied.
Now, King is promoting the hospital’s crowdfunding page called Kyle’s Endzone.