BIOGRAPHY
Kyle Rudolph was born on November 9, 1989, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a tight end for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL. Rudolph attended Elder High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he played high school football for the Panthers. 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. Following his senior season, Rudolph was invited to play in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Rudolph played college football for the University of Notre Dame. 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. 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 eight 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 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. During his rookie season, Rudolph started 8 of 15 games, catching 26 passes for 249 yards with a 9.6-yard average per reception and three receiving touchdowns, all of them in the final seven games of the season as he assumed a larger role in Bill Musgrave's offense. In Week 4, he hauled in a season-long 41-yard pass against the Kansas City Chiefs. His first career touchdown came on a 1-yard pass from fellow rookie quarterback Christian Ponder against the Oakland Raiders on November 20.
In 2012, Rudolph had, in many ways, a breakout year. He was targeted 93 times and had 53 receptions averaging 9.3 yards per reception. Rudolph finished the year with 493 receiving yards and a career-high nine touchdowns, the second-most by a Vikings tight end in a season in team history. Rudolph was selected for his first Pro Bowl in his career after the season as a replacement for Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez.
In 2016, Rudolph set the franchise record for most receptions in a season for a tight end with 83. Overall, in the 2016 season, he finished with 83 receptions for 840 yards and seven touchdowns. On January 22, 2018, he was named to his second Pro Bowl.
On June 10, 2019, the Vikings signed Rudolph to a four-year, $36 million contract extension. This came after Rudolph was involved in trade rumors throughout the offseason, but with the new deal, it keeps him under contract through the 2023 season.
Rudolph signed with the New York Giants on March 24, 2021
Rudolph signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on July 20, 2022.
