Breaking: Mason Rudolph was brutally treated by the Steelers.
Ever since Mason Rudolph joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018, the quarterback has been accused of receiving a hard ride. Whether or not the impending unrestricted free agent will return to Pittsburgh has been discussed frequently, with many bringing up the organization’s handling of the Oklahoma State product, in which former General Manager Kevin Colbert had a first-round rating. Joe Starkey, a well-known columnist and radio personality, recently stated that Rudolph hasn’t received the unfair treatment in Steel City that most people believe he has.
In order to choose Rudolph with the 76th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh had to move up. He and Josh Dobbs, the team’s 2017 fourth-round selection, were inactive for all 16 games of his rookie campaign and rode the bench behind an aging Ben Roethlisberger. After Roethlisberger sustained a season-ending injury in Week 2, Rudolph was placed into the starting lineup for 2019.
It wasn’t until the 2023 campaign that he was given another opportunity to start as quarterback for the team. At some point, Tomlin returned the keys to Rudolph, with Mitch Trubisky unable to do more than turn the ball over and Kenny Pickett hurt. Seizing the chance, he led the Steelers to victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and helped them advance to the postseason.
“I would argue that Rudolph has been the victim of bad luck more than bad treatment since he arrived in Pittsburgh,” Starkey stated. “Here, he has amassed $10 million. Although he hasn’t always been given the benefit of the doubt, that is the reality of being a professional athlete on the periphery, whether one is in this place or another.
Starkey conceded that Tomlin’s 2023 move from Trubisky was definitely a game too long, and that Rudolph was probably never given a fair chance in the 2022 competition between Pickett and Trubisky for the starting position. Still, the treatment isn’t all that unfair. He explained that training camp does not provide enough reps for three quarterbacks to be genuinely competitive.
Starkey stated that if Rudolph didn’t see it after four years in the NFL, he should have simply packed up and “quit football on account of sheer stupidity right then and there.” That was not what he did. After getting his $3 million, he rode the bench and did his best to support Trubisky and Pickett.
Starkey wondered if he would have even returned if he had believed he had been assaulted in Pittsburgh. The Steelers gave him a chance to stay in the NFL when it appeared that he may be switching careers. Starkey countered that it was kind of them. He went on to say that Tomlin could have easily gone back to the first-round quarterback with Pickett healthy, but he chose to stick with the hot hand.
Rudolph experienced the most notorious moment of his career in 2019 during a Week 11 loss to the Cleveland Browns in the fourth quarter. Myles Garrett, a defensive end for the Browns, struck Rudolph in the head with his own helmet after Garrett claimed Rudolph had called him a racist epithet.
