National Football League

Florida State' Travis Rudolph shows incredible gesture for boy with autism

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:25 p.m. ET

Aaron Torres

College football season is now just hours from kicking off in full-swing, and one program which has gotten no shortage of hype this preseason is the Florida State Seminoles.

But no matter what the Seminoles do on the field this season, it will pale in comparison to what receiver Travis Rudolph did off of it on Tuesday.

That’s because on Tuesday, Rudolph and several teammates were at Montford Middle School in Tallahassee, and just so happened to be in the cafeteria around lunch time. Rudolph saw a student sitting by himself eating lunch, and Rudolph decided to pull up a chair next to him.

Little did he know just how much this one, small, tiny gesture meant. You see, the child, named Bo Paske has autism. And sitting alone for lunch is something he does quite often.

Thankfully though, when Rudolph pulled up a chair, someone in the school snapped a picture of the duo eating lunch together, and sent it to Bo’s mom Leah. She then took to Facebook, to share an incredible message, which included this excerpt below.

I do remember middle school being scary, and hard. Now that I have a child starting middle school, I have feelings of anxiety for him, and they can be overwhelming if I let them. Sometimes I'm grateful for his autism. That may sound like a terrible thing to say, but in some ways I think, I hope, it shields him. He doesn't seem to notice when people stare at him when he flaps his hands. He doesn't seem to notice that he doesn't get invited to birthday parties anymore. And he doesn't seem to mind if he eats lunch alone. It's one of my daily questions for him. Was there a time today you felt sad? Who did you eat lunch with today? Sometimes the answer is a classmate, but most days it's nobody. Those are the days I feel sad for him, but he doesn't seem to mind. He is a super sweet child, who always has a smile and hug for everyone he meets.

A friend of mine sent this beautiful picture to me today and when I saw it with the caption "Travis Rudolph is eating lunch with your son" I replied "who is that?" He said "FSU football player", then I had tears streaming down my face. Travis Rudolph, a wide receiver at Florida State, and several other FSU players visited my sons school today. I'm not sure what exactly made this incredibly kind man share a lunch table with my son, but I'm happy to say that it will not soon be forgotten. This is one day I didn't have to worry if my sweet boy ate lunch alone, because he sat across from someone who is a hero in many eyes. Travis Rudolph thank you so much, you made this momma exceedingly happy, and have made us fans for life! #travisrudolph #gonoles #autismmom#fansforlife

My goodness, how do you even put into words how special this gesture is, and how much it meant to the Paske family?

You can’t, and the best part is that Rudolph didn’t do it looking for a photo op. Heck, he was nearly brought to tears when he was told about the Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon.

Jimbo Fisher also weighed in on the news after hearing it on Tuesday.

Safe to say, that for all the bad we hear about college sports, we don’t often hear enough about stories like this --- stories of young men and women in the community, doing incredible things for those around them.

Hopefully this story, and Rudolph get the credit they deserve on this one.