The eloquent and talented tight end discusses his challenging 2019 season, which culminated with a much dissected game-winning touchdown catch to bounce the New Orleans Saints from the playoffs, and the tumultuous offseason that followed. After addressing the challenges of playing in a pandemic and expressing his belief that, in the wake of George Floyd’s death, his franchise can serve as a model for bridging racial divides, Rudolph gets down to what’s truly important: Helping Natalie uncover the identity of Lizzo’s “new man on the Minnesota Vikings.”
Kyle talks about the impending start of training camp and the issues posed by the pandemic, acknowledging that if a player were to behave recklessly and spread the virus among teammates, it would cause a major problem in the locker room. He breaks down the financial staredown he had with the Vikings before the 2019 season and the accompanying trade rumors--leading to an amusing assessment of teammate Adam Thielen’s sideline confrontation with Bill Belichick. After Natalie’s R-rated story about her brusque introduction to former Washington tight end Chris Cooley, Kyle breaks down his favorite players at the position, many of whom seem to have a screw loose. He then revisits his epic catch against the Saints last January and the fear that it would be overturned via replay review--and the ensuing imbroglio over the gloves he wore in that playoff victory, and how they ended up on eBay. After a very serious discussion about George Floyd’s death and how it galvanized his community and team, Kyle addresses his lack of productivity in 2019 and talks about how he channeled his frustration into something positive. Finally, after a conversational detour that pinpoints the NFL’s doppelganger for beloved ‘Bad Santa’ character Thurman Merman, Kyle spends several minutes attempting to answer the most important question of all: Which of his current or former teammates was Lizzo singing about?
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