Kyle Rudolph Reveals What Sold Him on the New York Giants
Tight end Kyle Rudolph’s free agency experience can best be described as a true whirlwind.
Released by the Minnesota Vikings on March 2, Rudolph was on the market for roughly two weeks before agreeing to terms on a new contract with the New York Giants, a team that threw its hat into the ring for Rudolph’s services almost a couple of weeks after he was released.
“I go to sleep, wake up in the morning, and check my phone,” Rudolph told Bob Papa and Charlie Weiss on SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Opening Drive on Monday. “My agents are on the West Coast, so they were always up late at night and I'd get my updates at first thing in the morning. So they said, ‘Well what about the New York Giants?’”
Intrigued, Rudolph had phone conversations with head coach Joe Judge and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett last week, and it wasn’t too long before he was sold on the team.
“I just went from, you know, not in the picture at all to, ‘Hey, this is a place that I really believe in. I really would be excited to go join,” Rudolph said, adding that less than 24 hours after he was sold on the Giants, the two sides had a deal in place.
One of the tipping points that convinced Rudolph that the Giants were for him was something Judge told him.
“One of the lines that he said that really resonated with me was, ‘Overachievers aren't okay with mediocrity,’” Rudolph revealed.
“He's like, ‘I want to surround myself with a bunch of overachievers.’ I've always looked at myself as someone that tries to work harder than the next guy and be an overachiever, so that really resonated with me and that's something that I want to be a part of.”
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The 6’6”, 265-pound Rudolph has appeared in 140 games, all with the Vikings. He’s caught 453 passes for 4,488 yards and 48 touchdowns. Although he’s starting to get a little long in the tooth, the Giants believe he still has enough life left in his legs to help spruce up the league’s 31st ranked offense and scoring offense last year.
Rudolph, for his part, has an open mind when it comes to how he might be deployed in the Giants' offense. In joining a group that has Saquon Barkley, John Ross, Kenny Golladay, and Evan Engram, Rudolph knows there’s a possibility he might not be a featured player in the offense, but he’s accepted that.
“One thing that I have learned over the last couple of years, not being as involved in the pass game, was how to contribute to the run game and how to contribute to pass protection. So Giants fans are going to be getting someone who can help Saquon and help in the run game and who can also help protect (quarterback) Daniel Jones in certain situations.
“I try to always be extremely reliable in the pass game. When my number is called, when the quarterback has the trust in me to throw the football, I'm gonna make sure I execute and catch the ball.”
Off the field, Rudolph, who’s been a model citizen and one who’s been very involved in philanthropic endeavors, plans to contribute to the on-going process that is the Giants culture.
“As a guy who's been in this league for 10 years, I've always tried to lead by example,” Rudolph said.
“Always try to be one that younger guys can look to and say, ‘Okay, that's, that's how you live your life as a professional on the field and off the field.’ For me as a young player in this league, I looked at veteran players on how to kind of mold myself as a professional, how to carry myself in the locker room around the facility but also in the community.”
Rudolph, who was set to catch a flight to New York on Monday afternoon so he and his wife could begin setting up shop, added he was champing at the bit to get started in helping the Giants continue building what they started last year in Judge’s first season.
“We can't wait to get up to New York and to New Jersey and be able to connect with that community and try to do our best to, to impact that,” Rudolph said. “I’m excited to get to New Jersey.”
Check out the video above with former NFL head coach Jim Mora, who talks about ways the Giants can get more out of tight end Evan Engram and what Rudolph’s presence can help push Engram.
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