By the time Adam and Caitlin Thielen visited the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital on a fact-finding mission this summer, most of the particulars of how the couple would launch a charitable foundation were already in place.
They knew the time was now, with Thielen coming off a Pro Bowl year and heading into the second season of a four-year deal with the Vikings. They also knew they wanted the first endeavor, of what they hoped would be a wide-ranging charitable effort, to be located at the hospital that has enjoyed a decades-long relationship with the Vikings and their players.