Florida football player befriends autistic boy at lunch
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bo Paske doesn’t mind eating alone at lunch, as he does most days, but on Tuesday, he had a special tablemate— a Florida State University football player.
Travis Rudolph, a wide receiver for the Seminoles, visited Tallahassee’s Montford Middle School this week with four of his teammates to meet with area children. While eating pizza in the cafeteria, Rudolph spotted one boy sitting alone and went to join him.
“I asked could I sit with him and he said, ‘Sure, why not?’” Rudolph told Seminoles.com. “… He told me his name was Bo, how much he loves Florida State. And we went from there.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bo’s mother, Leah Paske, posted on Facebook, sharing that her son has autism and that most days he sits alone, but it doesn’t bother him. A friend sent her a photo of her son and the football player.
“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,” Paske wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. “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.”
Bo asked Rudolph if he was in the NFL, to which the college junior responded, “Not yet.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The football players’ visit was the latest in a long series of visits to area schools.