PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A Florida State University football player was reunited Thursday with the autistic boy whose lunch encounter with the Seminoles star was photographed and became a social media sensation.
FSU junior wide receiver Travis Rudolph first met Bo Paske earlier this week during a team visit to a Tallahassee middle school. Rudolph saw the boy eating alone at a lunch table, so he decided to sit with him.
The moment was captured in a photograph that Bo's mother shared on Facebook, along with a heartfelt message that quickly went viral.
A Showtime television crew documenting Florida State's 2016 season was there when Rudolph met Leah Paske for the first time.
Paske said she was "so grateful" for Rudolph's act of compassion.
"You really don't even have to thank me," Rudolph told Paske in an excerpt from the upcoming show. "Bo is a great person, and you raised a great son."
Then the former Cardinal Newman High School star vowed to be Bo's "friend forever."
"I mean you're a superstar here, and you could have sat at any one of those tables in that room," Paske said.
Rudolph said Bo was "welcoming" and introduced himself without hesitation.
"It was just, like, a great conversation from there," the Biletnikoff Award candidate said.
"I love that," Paske said. "Thank you so much."
The excerpt ended with Bo showing off his whip/nae-nae skills for Rudolph.
"A Season with Florida State Football" premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. on Showtime.