Kyle Rudolph
Kyle Daniel Rudolph is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for 12 seasons in the National Football League, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was selected by the Vikings in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft. He was selected for two Pro Bowls. He also played for the New York Giants and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Early life
Rudolph attended Elder High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he played high school football for the Panthers. As a junior, he caught 30 passes for 400 yards and seven touchdowns en route to earning first-team All-city and All-conference honors. As a senior in 2008, he was named first-team All-American by USA Today after totaling 37 receptions for 673 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was placed on the Scout.com All-America first-team and was the lone tight end among the 11 finalists for the high school Maxwell Award. He received first-team All-Southwest Ohio as a senior after being named second-team as a junior, and was named second-team All-state by the Associated Press. After his senior season, Rudolph was invited to play in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl held in San Antonio, Texas.An accomplished basketball player as well, Rudolph played center for his high school team and was the conference player of the year three times and All-Southwest Ohio in 2007. He is currently the second-leading scorer in school history and became just the second Panther to surpass 1,000 career points. He set the school record for most career rebounds when he corralled his 568th rebound on January 11, 2008. Against Moeller on January 25, 2008, he scored 25 of Elder's 52 points as the Panthers almost upset the top-ranked team in Ohio, 58–52.
Rudolph was rated as the best tight end and 20th best overall recruit in the class of 2008 according to Rivals.com. He was named the second-best player and the top tight end in the Detroit Free Press' Best of the Midwest Top 20 list. He was considered the No. 1 tight end in the recruiting class and the 20th-best prospect in the nation by Tom Lemming. He was ranked 21st in the country and No. 2 in the state of Ohio by Scout.com. He was also considered the 23rd-best player by Sports Illustrated. He accepted a scholarship offer from Notre Dame over Michigan, Tennessee, and Ohio State.
College career
Freshman season
As a freshman in 2008, Rudolph became the first tight end in Notre Dame history to start all 13 games as a freshman and the first freshman to ever start a season opener at tight end for Notre Dame. He made his career debut in the season opener against San Diego State and brought in his first career reception for five yards during the victory. In week 3, he posted his first multi-reception game of his career against Michigan State, with both catches traveling for 10-plus yards and resulting in first downs against the Spartans. The following week, he hauled in three passes for 32 yards, with a long of 19, while also recording the first touchdown catch of his career in the Irish' 38–21 win over Purdue. In week 5, he registered season-highs in receptions and receiving yards and added his second and final touchdown of the season versus Stanford. He hauled in two catches for 26 yards against Pittsburgh, setting a new school record for receptions by a freshman tight end in a single season during the game. In week 11, he established a school record for single-season receiving yards by a freshman tight end during the game against Syracuse. In the 2008 Hawaii Bowl game, he caught four passes for a season-high 78 yards. His 29-yard reception against the Warriors also set a season-best long reception. Rudolph finished his first year with the Irish with 29 receptions for 340 yards and two touchdowns.Sophomore season
As a sophomore in 2009, Rudolph participated in only ten games with nine starts, missing three due to a shoulder injury and totaling 275:59 of playing time while making 57 special-teams appearances. He was named semi-finalist for the John Mackey Award and was the only sophomore to be named semi-finalist. He hauled in four catches for 29 yards and a touchdown in the opener against Nevada. In week 3, he set a then career-high with 95 receiving yards against Michigan State including a season-long 52-yard reception. His performance against the Spartans earned him John Mackey Tight End of the Week honors. He nabbed touchdown catches in back-to-back weeks against Purdue and Washington, with the first coming against the Boilermakers when there were only 24 seconds remaining in the game on a fourth-and-goal situation that sealed Notre Dame's win; the second touchdown reception against Washington came with less than two minutes remaining in regulation and gave the Irish the lead. He was voted by his teammates to represent tight ends on the Irish Leadership Committee. Rudolph ended the season ranked third on the team with 33 receptions for 364 yards and three touchdowns.Junior season
Rudolph had his promising 2010 junior season derailed by a hamstring injury that ended his season after six games. On September 11, he set a Notre Dame record for most receiving yards in a game by a tight end against Michigan with 164 yards on eight receptions, with more than half of the yardage coming after he hauled in the second-longest pass play in school history with a 95-yard touchdown. Rudolph finished his final collegiate season with 28 receptions for 328 yards and three touchdowns, ending his three-season career at Notre Dame ranked among the all-time leading tight ends in school history. His 90 career receptions were the fourth-most by a tight end in school history and his 1,032 career receiving yards are also fourth-most. His pair of eight-catch games fell one reception short of the school record for a tight end of nine receptions in a game and was only the fourth Irish tight end to break the 1,000-yard career yardage plateau.On January 4, 2011, Rudolph decided to forgo his senior season and declared for the 2011 NFL draft.
College statistics
Professional career
Pre-draft
Rudolph did not participate in the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine because of his torn hamstring, but posted a 4.78 40-yard dash time only three weeks after being medically cleared to participate at Notre Dame's Pro Day in South Bend, Indiana.Minnesota Vikings
2011 season
Rudolph was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 43rd overall pick in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft. He was the first tight end selected in the draft and is the second-highest drafted tight end in Vikings history behind Hal Bedsole in the 1964 NFL draft.During his rookie season, Rudolph started 8 of 15 games, catching 26 passes for 249 yards with a 9.6-yard average per reception and three receiving touchdowns, all of them in the final seven games of the season as he assumed larger role in Bill Musgrave's offense. In Week 4, he hauled in a season-long 41-yard pass against the Kansas City Chiefs. His first career touchdown came on a 1-yard pass from fellow rookie quarterback Christian Ponder against the Oakland Raiders on November 20. Overall, he finished his rookie season with 26 receptions for 249 yards and three touchdowns. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team.
2012 season
In 2012, Rudolph had, in many ways, a breakout year. He was targeted 93 times and had 53 receptions averaging 9.3 yards per reception. Rudolph finished the year with 493 receiving yards and a career-high nine touchdowns, the second-most by a Vikings tight end in a season in team history. His nine touchdown catches, which is a career-high, were also tied for second-most by a tight end in the NFL in 2012. In the season-opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 9, he had a then career-best 67 receiving yards on five receptions. On September 16, he hauled in a six-yard touchdown pass with only 31 seconds remaining in the game versus the Indianapolis Colts to tie the game 20–20 after being down 20–6 entering the 4th quarter of game that Colts won on a late field goal 23–20. In week 3, he had a career-best two touchdown catches in the Vikings' win at San Francisco, matching the Vikings single-game best by a tight end. In week 6, he caught a touchdown pass and a 2-point conversion pass against the Washington Redskins. The Vikings finished with a 10–6 record and qualified for the playoffs. In the Wild Card Round against the Green Bay Packers, he finished with three receptions for 42 yards in the 24–10 loss.Rudolph was selected for his first Pro Bowl in his career at the conclusion of the season as a replacement for Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez. At the end of the game he was named Pro Bowl MVP.