Kyle Rudolph

Kyle Rudolph
New York Giants — No.
Born: November 9 1989 (1989-11-09)
Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Weight: 265 lb (120 kg)
Career Highlights and Awards
College: Notre Dame
Year(s): 2011
Debuted with: Minnesota Vikings
NFL Draft: 2011 / Round: 2 / Pick: 43rd
Professional Teams
Minnesota Vikings (2011–2020) New York Giants (2021-present)
Career Stats
Receptions	453
Receiving Yards	4,448
Receiving Touchdowns	48
'
Receiving AVG/YPC	9.8
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
2x Pro Bowler (2012), (2017) 1x Pro Bowl MVP (2012) 2011 NFP All-Rookie Team 2008 US Army All-American 2007 High school All-American (USA Today)

Kyle Rudolph (born November 9, 1989) is an American tight end who plays for the New York Giants of the NFL. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2nd round (43rd overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. He was selected for the 2012 Pro Bowlfollowing the 2012 NFL season.

Early years

Rudolph attended Elder High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. 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 (18.2 yards per catch) 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. Following his senior season, Rudolph was invited to play in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl held in San Antonio, Texas.

Also an accomplished basketball]] player, 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 Jan. 11, 2008. Against Moeller]] (No. 1 in Ohio, No. 9 in the nation) on Jan. 25, 2008, he scored 25 of Elder's 52 points as the Panthers almost upset the top-ranked team in Ohio, 58-52.

Recruiting

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 (2008)

See also: 2008 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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 (two catches for 29 yards) 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 (5) and receiving yards (70) 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 freshmen 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 (11.7 avg.) and two touchdowns.

Sophomore season (2009)

See also: 2009 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

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 semifinalist for the John Mackey Award (presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end) and was the only sophomore to be named semifinalist. 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 Boilermackers 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 (17 resulting in first downs) for 364 yards and three touchdowns.

Junior season (2010)

See also: 2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Rudolph had his promising 2010 junior season derailed by a hamstring injury that ended his season after 6 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 8 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 season before going pro with 28 receptions for 328 yards and three touchdowns, ending his 3-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 8-catch games fell 1 reception short of the school record for a tight end of 9 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.

Statistics

Regular season statistics				Receiving
Season	Team	GP	GS	Rec	Rec Yards	Avg	Lng	TDs
2008	Notre Dame	13	13	29	340	11.7	29	2
2009	Notre Dame	10	9	33	364	11.0	52	3
2010	Notre Dame	6	6	28	328	11.7	95	3
Totals		29	28	90	1032	11.5	95	8

Professional career

Rudolph did not participate in the 2011 NFL 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.

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 (chosen in the first round, 19th overall) in the 1964 NFL Draft.

NFL Statistics

Season	Team	Games		Receiving
		GP	GS	Rec	Yds	Avg	Yds/G	Lng	TD	1st	+20	+40
Regular season
2011	MIN	15	8	26	249	9.6	16.6	41	3	14	3	1
2012	MIN	16	16	53	493	9.3	30.8	29	9	34	5	0
2013	MIN	8	8	30	313	10.4	39.1	31	3	12	6	0
2014	MIN	9	8	24	231	9.6	25.7	23	2	13	2	0
2015	MIN	16	16	49	495	10.1	30.9	47	5	25	4	1
2016	MIN	16	16	83	840	10.1	52.5	44	7	50	11	1
2017	MIN	16	16	57	532	9.3	33.3	34	8	32	4	0
	Total	96	88	322	3,153	9.8	32.8	47	37	180	35	3
Postseason
2012	MIN	1	1	3	42	14.0	42.0	23	0	3	1	0
2015	MIN	1	1	1	24	24.0	24.0	24	0	1	1	0
	Total	2	2	4	66	16.5	33.0	24	0	4	2	0

=External links

• Kyle Rudolph article at Wikipedia