After Sunday night's game against the New Orleans Saints, Vikings fans were so impressed with Thomas Morstead's sportsmanship, they decided to help out his foundation! Thomas Morstead is a punter for the Saints, and on Sunday he tore cartilage in his rib cage when he tackled Minnesota Vikings cornerback Marcus Sherels on a punt return in the first quarter. He continued to play through the pain, even coming out for the final play of the game showing some unbelievable sportsmanship.
Thomas Morstead has a foundation called What You Give Will Grow Foundation, and after Sunday's night game, a campaign started on a Minnesota Vikings Reddit page encouraging people to donate to his charity. They post said, "Show your respect for NO Saints Punter Thomas Morstead by donating to his Charity. Played with a broken rib yet was one of the 8 players that came out for the point after."
According to New Orleans Saints Central:
Donations to Morstead's Foundation steadily climbed throughout the ensuing days and the campaign went viral on Wednesday, spurring Morstead to set a $100,000 benchmark on Wednesday morning.
What started as a trickle of donations in the $10-$25 range quickly swelled as news reports gave the campaign momentum.
Love Your Melon, a St. Paul, Minn.-based company that benefits pediatric cancer patients, donated $10,000, Dennis Lomonaco, the foundation's executive director, said. The New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings joined the cause Wednesday night with matching $10,000 contributions.
As of 7:30 a.m. Thursday, more than 3,500 people had donated more than $140,000 to the cause.