Vikings Fan Who Bought Kyle Rudolph's Gloves on eBay Gives Story a Really Happy Ending

Earlier Wednesday, we were outraged to learn that Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph, shortly after catching a game-winning touchdown against the Saints in a Wild Card playoff game Sunday, agreed to give his gloves to a member of the media for ostensibly chartiable purposes... only to see them sold on eBay days later. The story was maddening for every reason under the sun, but wouldn't ya know it? It's going to have a happy ending.

In classic aww-shucks midwestern fashion, a Vikings fan emerged on Twitter and identified himself as the one who purchased the signed pair of gloves. The man, Jason King, told Rudolph that he'd be happy to donate them to the charity of his choosing.

Wow, social media helped an actual good thing to take place!

Barely a half-hour after Rudolph identified the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital as his preferred organization, the hospital's official Twitter account was more than happy to oblige and help to faciliate the good deed.

And that wasn't all.

King, riding a wave of altruism from which we could all take a lesson, put out a call for online donations that he seeks to bundle and send to the hospital. Given that he's got Rudolph boosting his signal, there's no telling just how much good can come from this.

Whoever the still-unidentified person was who obtained Rudolph's gloves via deceptive means ought to be feeling extra-ashamed right now. The power of people, even perfect strangers, to come together and do good on behalf of those who need help the most is limitless, and to be reminded of this is a breath of the freshest air.

We could use more of this in 2020 and beyond.