Saints' Morstead fulfills $221K promise to Minnesota Children's Hospital

New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead delivered a check for $221,143 to the Minnesota Children's Hospital on Friday, fulfilling a promise he made after the Vikings defeated his club in the NFC playoffs.

Morstead was on the crushing end of the Minneapolis Miracle three weeks ago. Afterwards, a Vikings fan encouraged his fellow supporters to donate to the punter's charity for playing through a painful rib injury in the playoff game.

"It's been crazy, dude," Morstead told Mike Triplett of ESPN on Friday night. "I'm totally exhausted right now, but it was a great experience. The people here are so friendly. I couldn't believe just walking on the street or at the NFL experience, all these different Vikings fans being like, 'Holy crap, that's Thomas Morstead.' It’s just crazy to think that anyone would know who I am outside of New Orleans."

It took mere days for donations to top $100,000, prompting Morstead to send it all back to Minnesota in person. With the funds piling up, the Minnesota Children's Hospital began encouraging donors to direct donations to Morstead's personal charity, Louisiana's Child Life program.

"It's cool because everyone's kind of sharing in the vibes and the good energy," said Morstead.