SCHOOL NEWS
Kyle on Kyle
Elder grad and football star Kyle Rudolph (late of Notre Dame, now a tight end for the Vikings) is in the news these days. A local Minnesota sportswriter named him Vikings Rookie of the Year, and the National Football Post picked him for its "2011 NFP All-Rookie Offensive Team."
We thought we'd get a different perspective on the man who was recruited for basketball as well as football, who was in the National Honor Society in high school, who played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl before college, who started every game his first year at Notre Dame, who was the first player in school history to open the season in the lineup as a first-time prospect, and who was one of the NFL's top recruits for his position (and the first tight end drafted) despite an injury that ended his Notre Dame career early. We asked Fr. Kyle Schnippel, Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, to share some memories of teaching him at Elder.
"Kyle could have easily sailed through high school," Fr. Schnippel remembers. "He had to work for his grades, and with his talent in football, we all thought he had a good chance to make it far; but he brought the same dedication to his academics as he did to football and basketball.
"In particular, I remember how he treated the grade school boys who looked up to him (both literally and figuratively!). After a basketball tournament game in which he played well, but was constantly harassed by the opposing team, he emerged from the locker room to watch the next game, the winner of which would be his next opponent. There were roughly 15 fourth grade (or so) boys who wanted to shake his hand and congratulate him on his play, he stopped and talked to each one. You could tell watching from afar that Kyle was a little mystified as to why they would look up to him, but he was genuinely interested in them and they adored him for it.
"He was one of the nicest students I taught, truly the gentleman whom you hoped would date your daughter (or niece, in my case!)."
Photo courtesy the Minnesota Vikings.