**MINNEAPOLIS —** You don't have to coax Jonathan Greenard into a competition.
The Vikings outside linebacker eagerly grabbed a controller to play 8-year-old Kyler in _Madden,_ offering a friendly fist bump before putting on his game face.
"You can't beat me in front my friends, now," Greenard quipped.
He and Vikings teammates Bo Richter and Vershon Lee visited Kyler and other patients at M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital Friday afternoon. Running back Zavier Scott, his wife McKenna, Cynthia O'Hara (wife of Senior Offensive Assistant Chris O'Hara) and former Vikings OL Marcellus Johnson (currently on a futures contract with Dallas) also joined, visiting patients on another floor.
"These kids clearly understand the \[challenging\] situations they're in. We don't want to come in and add anything onto that," Greenard said. "A lot of these patients just want to take their mind off things, so we come in, play some games, laugh, chop it up and just interact with them.
"It's everything that can go miles — and we might not even see the full impact, what it can do for the parents involved, too," he added. "I'm just blessed to be a blessing."
Greenard gave Kyler some good-natured ribbing for being a Dolphins fan but offered genuine compliments when his team scored against Greenard's Vikings.
"C'mon, Harrison! You can't do me dirty like that," laughed Greenard, gesturing at the digitized version of Harrison Smith on the screen following a Miami touchdown.
"These guys had smiles on their faces, some of them told me they don't like the Vikings … I love it," Greenard said. "Because if I can get you to be like that, step outside what you're dealing with, my job is already done. Kudos to these staff here, too — they've been amazing. They make things so much easier for \[these patients\] as they're dealing with tough times."