Vikings Fans Donate To Thomas Morstead’s Foundation After Philanthropic Saints Punter Played Injured

The New Orleans Saints may have lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the final seconds of Sunday’s divisional round game, but one of the Saints’ players has received great news since then.

Thomas Morstead Foundation Donations news

By Tuesday afternoon, $3,100 in donations had poured into “What You Give Will Grow,” a foundation Saints punter Thomas Morstead began to assist children going through medical treatments. Most of the donations are from Vikings fans.

“It’s really just caring for the emotional side of the child in the hospital while they’re there,” Morstead said.

Dozens of children also sent drawings, and social media lit up with respect for the punter after he played through Sunday’s 29-24 Saints loss after tearing cartilage where his ribs connect to his breastbone. Morstead took the time to praise his teammates.

“If it feels the way I feel, I don’t know how they do it,” he siad. “So it just gave me an enormous amount of respect for those guys.”

Dr. Christopher Marrero, an Orthopedic Surgeon with LSU Health Sciences Center, is not treating Morstead but says with a wrap to keep the midsection immobile for weeks, patients heal 100 percent.

All the donations from Minnesota will go back to help children in that community, at Children’s Minnesota Saint Paul Hospital. To date, the organization has given well over $2.5 million to a wide range of causes and thousands of people have become involved with it.

Morstead’s foundation’s goal was $100,000, and the punter promised to fly up and deliver the check himself if that objective was reached.

Morstead is just one of many NFL players to do charitable work through organizations or donate to a cause. Houston Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson donated one of his paychecks to two NRG Stadium cafeteria workers who were affected by Hurricane Harvey, which slammed Texas in August and September.