First Graders Send Letters To Cheer Up Vikings’ Kicker

Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal in the waning seconds of a devastating, 10-9 playoff loss to Seattle at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday. He then showed up in person at the school with a message of his own. The kids looked on in awe as Walsh spoke to them and signed autographs for them.

“I know it can be hard to get through things that make you sad”, Sophia Doffin wrote. And the fact that you guys would do that for me, someone you’ve never met and someone you don’t know, that’s huge.

He says he’ll “cherish… forever” the letters the students wrote to him during a lesson on empathy, the Associated Press reported. “Everyone makes mistakes sometimes”.

“These kids really made a difference in my life so I thought I’d come and help make their day, ” Walsh said.

“I have felt for long time that kickers receive much more criticism despite playing at such a high level that rules have been changed repeatedly to decrease their impact on the game”, he said.

Walsh’s father, Joe, learned of the story and was the one to break it to his son, who was overwhelmed.

They do know him now, after Walsh visited the first grade students Thursday before leaving Minnesota for the offseason.

Walsh, 26, left the visit with all the students’ uplifting drawings and letters, and a stuffed animal, too. “There have been so many more kind responses that I’ve received than negative, and that shows a lot about Minnesota Vikings fans”, Walsh said.