Vikings kicker who missed big goal visits first graders who wrote letters of encouragement

[cali]

to him.

Blair Walsh is a professional football player for the Minnesota Vikings. He’s their placement kicker which means he is in charge of kicking field goals. Walsh missed a big field goal kick this past Sunday. He was in tears at his locker, feeling the most painful moment in sports for a field goal kicker—the “easy” kick that coulda, woulda, shoulda won the game and sent the Minnesota Vikings one step closer to the Super Bowl. Judie Offerdahl, a first grade teacher at Northpoint Elementary in Blaine, Minnesota saw the game and thought:

I knew that Mr. Walsh probably felt horrible about it,” said Offerdahl, a (shhhh) Seahawks fan. “I also knew it would be a good teachable moment for the kids.”

So students are writing heartfelt messages to an athlete they don’t know.
The messages from the children were amazing.

<snip>
The children collected their letters of encouragement and sent them to Walsh, via Jeff Anderson, the Vikings executive director of communications. Blair Walsh got the letters and today, he went and visited their school to thank them in person—and sign a few autographs.

"People like you, kids like you are willing to do kind things like that for somebody you don't even know," Walsh told the first-graders during a visit to the school Thursday morning. "It really meant a lot to me and I just want to say thank you."
According to Minnesota reporter Rochelle Olson, Walsh submitted himself to hardline questions:

<snip>
Third question: "Do you have a guinea pig?" Walsh says his family has a poodle.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/14/1470007/-First-graders-write-letters-of-encouragement-to-Vikings-Kicker-who-missed-a-big-kick-he-responds

[bullwinkle428]

1. K&R.

[roguevalley]

2. aww. there is good in the world.

[Kalidurga]

3. I can almost like the Vikings again

But, I will have to be content just to like this player. That was wonderful.

[Initech]

4. Can we still hate the Seahawks?

[joeybee12]

5. DEFINITELY!

[hifiguy]

6. Blair Walsh is well-known as an exceptionally nice guy

up here where we bleed Purple.

If only the Vikes' offense had scored one measly touchdown the game wouldn't have come down to that kick.

But we WILL be back, and so will Walsh!

[ShrimpPoboy]

8. True

It's easy to blame the game on a botched play at the end, but any game decided by less than a field goal could have gone the other way on any single play. And that's a burden every player should be bearing, not just the kicker.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. I didn't watch that game, but

isn't it true that the Vikings wouldn't have had ANY points without that kicker? Three field goals? I felt really bad for him, even though we're all Seahawks fans.