Christmas Eve was only a few days away, but Kyle Rudolph still had something on his shopping list. He wanted to splurge on something real nice for himself.
So he texted Dan Gamache, who was sitting at a bar in Connecticut when his mobile phone started buzzing. It was late notice, but the big Vikings tight end was hoping to get a pair of holiday-themed cleats featuring, of course, his red-nosed namesake.
"I asked him if he wanted to do something for Christmas," Rudolph said this spring. "And [Gamache] said, 'I was hoping you were going to reach out to me.