Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges is hanging it up. The Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League announced his retirement from professional football on their website Friday evening.
“I’d like to thank the REDBLACKS for bringing me to Ottawa and giving me this opportunity,” Hodges said in a statement. “I have gained a lot of respect for the CFL and its fans – particularly RNation! I’m excited to see what the future holds but I know that the next chapter in my life is going to be fun.”
Hodges, who broke the FCS record for passing yards with 14,584, was brought in by the Steelers as a fourth string camp arm out of Samford in 2019. While he was impressive in training camp and the preseason, he was cut before the season began. He later cleared waivers and was signed to the practice squad a day before the team traded quarterback Josh Dobbs to Jacksonville. The elbow injury to Ben Roethlisberger in Week 2 of the 2019 season elevated Hodges to the active roster to serve as Mason Rudolph’s backup.
But as Rudolph battled injuries and an inability at times to kickstart the Steelers’ offense, Hodges received the opportunity to start six games. In those starts, Hodges went 3-3, throwing for 1,063 yards and had five touchdowns to eight interceptions. After taking over for an ineffective Rudolph in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he gave the Steelers’ offense and entire team a jolt with a 16-10 come-from-behind victory. That performance earned him the chance to start again, and he went on to lead Pittsburgh to wins over the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals to keep the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive.
After his practice squad contract expired with Pittsburgh at the end of 2020, he was signed to a reserve/futures contract by the Los Angeles Rams six days later, but was later cut before the season began in late August of 2021.
Hodges signed a 3-year deal with the Redblacks last September. In his only season in the CFL, he played in four games, completing 16-of-38 passes for 139 yards and an interception.
