Kyle Rudolph talks charity work, leaving Vikings with Jim Rich on Fox 9 Sports Now

MINNEAPOLIS - Kyle Rudolph will forever call Minnesota his home, even if he won’t be sporting a Vikings’ jersey when the NFL season begins in September.

After 10 seasons with the Vikings, they released Rudolph in the offseason. He signed with the New York Giants to be a veteran tight end on a team filled with younger players. Rudolph admitted it didn’t feel real until the first time he stepped into the Giants’ facility for offseason workouts.

"You kind of feel like a rookie all over again," Rudolph said.

Sunday night on Fox 9 Sports Now, Rudolph joined Fox 9 Sports Director Jim Rich to talk about leaving the Vikings for the Giants, and hosting his annual summer golf event in Minnesota to raise money for the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital.

Rudolph, along with former Minnesota Wild winger Jason Zucker, hosted Monday’s golf tournament at Windsong Farm Golf Club. Proceeds from the event go to Adopt a Rooms, Kyle Rudolph’s End Zone and the Zucker Family Suite and Broadcast Studio at the Masonic Children’s Hospital.

Rudolph was also in Bloomington on Sunday for a Taste of the Tour charity event, done in conjunction with the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine in late July.

Monday’s golf tournament was the first in-person event for Rudolph with the Masonic Children’s Hospital since the Red Eye Flight to the North Pole during the holiday season in 2019.

"This is still home for us. This is still our community, and we’re going to do everything we can. Although I’m not a current player here in this community, it’s still home and still where my kids will grow up and will go to school, and where we’ll live in the offseason. It’s as important to me now as it was for the last 10 years to try to impact this community," Rudolph said.

Watch both videos to see Jim Rich’s full interview with Kyle Rudolph.