Viktor
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,552
- 0
Additionally, one player from each Centaurs team who displays leadership, teamwork and dedication will receive a $1,000 scholarship.
Besides the donation, the Thielens hosted a Q&A session with students, handed out boxes of new cleats, posed for pictures, signed autographs and toured the campus to see exactly where the donation is going.
Nate Gautsch, the high school’s activities director, said the idea first came about in the spring. The impact was felt by autumn.
“All of the sudden, it happened,” Gautsch said. “It wasn’t, ‘Oh, this is what we want to do.’ It was, ‘This is happening.’ Then the weight room equipment showed up, and shoes starting showing up.
“A lot of these kids can’t afford to buy their own cleats. We supply basic equipment through the school because so many of these kids can’t go get it on their own,” Gautsch added. “A lot of coaches keep used cleats and pass them on year to year.”
Jonathan Meader, a junior at Brooklyn Center, plays middle linebacker and left tackle for the football team. He described the excitement the school felt when Thielen surprised him and his peers.
“We were pretty loud when we saw him,” Meader said. “This is a big thing, because for a long time, this [athletic] program hasn’t had a lot. This can definitely help … this just gets us pumped and helps us push forward.”
The hefty donation and generous giving was yet another milestone moment for the Thielen Foundation, which celebrated its one-year anniversary on Sept. 18.
What began as a $100,000 donation to the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital (specifically the Pediatric Behavioral Health unit) has turned into a year of giving and impact for both the foundation and the family.
The foundation hosted an event at Topgolf, with a second outing to come on Sept. 23 in Brooklyn Center. There was also a July celebrity softball game at CHS Field, home of the St. Paul Saints, plus multiple other events throughout the year.
“It’s shaped us, honestly, more in the last year than it has shaped other people,” Thielen said of the community work he and his family have done since September of 2018. “Some of the visits we’ve had with some kids, and coming to an event like this and seeing the spirit of these kids getting the cleats and things like that … them getting that excited is pretty cool.
“We’re happy with where we’re at … but hopefully we can continue to build off this and provide more around this community,” Thielen added.
Being present at an event or in the community isn’t a requirement by any means, but it might as well be for the Thielens, as the couple said they always want to make sure they are visible and not just writing a check while sitting at home.
“One-hundred percent percent. That’s something that’s big to us and our foundation, is that we don’t want to just give something or just send money … we want to be physically there,” Thielen said. “It means so much more when you’re there and you meet the kids and you’re around them. It means more for us, and I’d think it’d mean more for them, too.”
The foundation’s impact has been spread across the Twin Cities, but it’s also been felt at home, too.
The Thielen household now features two energetic boys. Asher will turn 3 in October, and Hudson was born in January to form an active tag-team duo.
For the Thielens, setting a good example in the community starts with setting the right one at home.
“It’s impacted me a lot,” Thielen said of fatherhood. “Just accountability and trying to do better every single day to make sure that they’re learning from my mistakes and so that I can teach them and help them grow to become good human beings and people that give back.”
Caitlin added: “We try and enjoy the present. This is such a unique time in Adam’s life, and our family’s life. Just trying to soak it all in with our kids. With our foundation, it’s so important for our kids to see us giving back to the community.”
When the Vikings opened the 2019 season at home with a 28-12 win against Atlanta, it marked Thielen’s seventh season in the NFL and sixth on the active roster.
But ask Thielen about the Week 1 win, and he’ll tell you that his favorite moment wasn’t scoring the Vikings first touchdown of the season, or helping block for a punishing rushing attack.
It was a quiet few moments before the game when he was able to spend time with both of his boys for the first time while at his Sunday job.
“Just having them there is the most important thing for me,” Thielen said. “It takes a lot on her part to get them on the field, but that’s my favorite part of the game every single time — seeing her and the boys … Hudson crawling out to me before the game was pretty cool.
“That’s the stuff that means the most. Touchdowns, obviously, are great for the team and helping the team win,” Thielen added. “But it’s not about the touchdowns; it’s about the family and the locker room and things like that.”
Thielen then paused before pulling off a dad joke.
“That was Hudson’s first game, so he’s 1-0,” Thielen said with a laugh.
A few days after the game, Caitlin still got a bit choked up thinking about the pregame moment.
“It was really emotional,” she said. “Asher went to his first game at three weeks old, so that’s all he has known. It was pretty special to have the kids run out to their dad.”