The Pittsburgh Steelers always find a way to keep it interesting. Mason Rudolph was dead set on leaving Pittsburgh, but Omar Khan turned on his charm and talked him into returning to the black and gold. Rudolph might not have had any other options, but the Steelers and the former third-round pick figured out a way to make it look like a mutually beneficial decision and even gave Rudolph back the No. 2 spot. Maybe it was symbolic?
Bizarre circumstances seem to follow the veteran Steelers quarterback. Everyone is familiar with his on-the-field incidents, and he did not endear himself to many Pittsburgh fans by blaming Ben Roethlisberger for his failures as a quarterback.
If you are of a certain age, you probably remember the popular country variety show Hee-Haw. One of the regular bits is a group of down-on-their-luck farmers commiserating about gloom, despair and agony. Yup, if it wasn’t for bad luck, they would have no luck at all; and at this point, Rudolph would fit right into a revival of the popular sketch. It is almost comical at this point, as long as you are not the former Oklahoma State quarterback.
Last season, Rudolph thought he was going to be the backup quarterback against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first game of the season when he was listed second on the depth chart. It didn’t last long. Head coach Mike Tomlin explained it was a clerical error and Kenny Pickett was named the backup within hours. He did not get to dress for a game until they played the Carolina Panthers late in the season.
Steelers' Mason Rudolph Took The Best And Maybe Only Option In Free Agency
Third-string quarterbacks who are being paid over $1 million per year and have already earned nearly $9 million in their career are not exactly tragic figures, but if anyone could pull it off, it would be Rudolph. He gambled that he would be able to leave Pittsburgh and find a different job in the NFL, but it turned out that he couldn’t find a job in the USFL and had to swallow his pride to stay employed; a circumstance that all too many of us are familiar with.
Rudolph’s re-signing had a positive spin. Sit behind Mitch Trubisky for a year, be the good soldier, and maybe earn your way into the primary backup for a budding franchise quarterback in Kenny Pickett. Pickett and Tomlin were complimentary of how he conducted himself last season, and he deserves kudos for how he handled the situation and not burning what turned out to be his only bridge. Things were looking up for Rudolph on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Trubisky, who has an outstanding relationship with Pickett and was voted a team captain in his first season, extended his contract. He will be Pickett’s backup for the next two seasons and Rudolph is left holding a clipboard, with very little chance of proving himself to anyone in the NFL who is not watching the Pittsburgh scout team.
Rudolph may not be the Steelers’ next franchise quarterback, or their backup at this point, but if he goes bananas on a practice field in Latrobe, Pa., in July and starts swinging, you could hardly blame him. He has endured more affronts in a short NFL career than most endure in a lifetime. Rudolph has been knocked out, assaulted, insulted and ignored. He has not always been easy to root for, but at this point, it is hard to root against him.
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