Twice Pro Bowler (and game MVP in 2013), Rudolph recorded 453 receptions for 4,488 yards and 48 touchdowns in 140 regular season games in Minnesota.
He ranks fifth in the team’s history in receptions and touchdowns and is tenth in the history of the Vikings in reception yards.
Rudolph has the highest number of touchdown receptions for a tight end in the franchise’s history and is second behind Steve Jordan among the tight end in footprints and yards.
The former Notre Dame highlight provided some of the most memorable moments in the franchise’s history during its decade-long season in Purple, including the Vikings’ first touchdown at US Bank Stadium when the venue opened in 2016.
Rudolph also excelled in the postseason and silenced the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in January 2020 with a touchdown in overtime.
That score gave the Vikings a 26-20 win over the Saints and was Minnesota’s first playoff victory in overtime in the franchise’s history.
He has also provided many other memorable moments in the end zone over the years, be it a Hail Mary touchdown in Detroit in 2018, leading the “Duck, Duck, Gray Duck” celebration in Chicago in 2017 or getting a handful of scores with just one hand in recent seasons.
But, despite all his production and field efforts, the team captain may have had an even greater impact.
Selected three times as the Walter Payton Man of the Year Vikings Award, Rudolph and his family left a lasting legacy as people who changed lives in Minnesota.
In December 2017, Rudolph and his wife, Jordan, opened Kyle Rudolph’s End Zone at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital.