Duluth Gold Medal Goalie Gets Funny Fan Letter After Olympics
The 2018 Winter Olympics are long gone but all of the Northland is still obsessed with our gold medalists. All of them have become American heroes. Of course, that includes UMD Women's Hockey Goalie Maddie Rooney.
Since taking home the gold last month, she's been on a whirlwind press tour, continuing to win over the hearts of millions. Her latest fan may be the biggest yet.
Here's what happened: after the U.S. women's hockey team took gold in a shootout victory against Canada, Rooney became a huge star. Because she is the goaltender of the team, she was praised for the win. Someone had a little fun with her skill and changed her Wikipedia biography from "goaltender" to "Secretary of Defense."
It seems the actual U.S. Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, caught wind of the humorous comparison and decided to reach out. He sent her a hand-written letter just days after the big win, dated on the last day of February.
Rooney posted a photo of the card to her Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Mattis congratulated the hockey player on the team's win and jokingly referred to her as "Madam Secretary Maddie." He also ended the note with a joke, signing the tongue-in-cheek letter with "one secretary of defense to another."
Rooney obviously freaked out (who wouldn't?!) and said it was a great honor to hold the same title as someone like him, even if it was a joke.
This is just the latest in a series of big moments for the sports star. She recently caught the eye of her celebrity crush, Justin Bieber, after she sported some of his merchandise while a guest on 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.'
Her occupation has since returned to goaltender on her Wikipedia page. Who will show their love for Rooney next? We will have to wait and see!