Mason Rudolph has gone 3-0 as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback, and the Steelers are a Jacksonville Jaguars or Buffalo Bills loss (or Colts-Texans tie) away from the playoffs. Rudolph has played some of the best football of any Steelers quarterback in years. Rudolph was asked by Laura Rutledge during a postgame interview on ESPN why he never felt sorry for himself after not being given the opportunity to play since 2021 before this season.
“I’ve achieved my dream,” Rudolph said after the Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 17-10 “Just better to have gratitude and thank God for the whole journey, rather than be resentful if this would’ve been it for me. But I’m just proud of our guys, got the big win on the road, and hopefully we get some help tomorrow and get into the tournament.”
Rudolph has been awesome for Pittsburgh, and during his whole tenure here, even when he’s been the third string, he hasn’t complained and has done his job. Now that he’s taken over as the starter, he’s taken full advantage of the opportunity and helped make the Steelers’ path to the playoffs that much easier.
It seemed unfathomable that the Steelers would finish 10-7 when Rudolph took over a 7-7 team, but they beat a hot Cincinnati Bengals team in Week 16 before going on the road to beat the Seahawks in Week 17. Then, he braved extremely rainy conditions to help Pittsburgh beat Baltimore with an 18-of-20 performance through the air.
It’s hard not to be happy for Rudolph, who came off the bench to start for the injured Ben Roethlisberger in 2019 before losing his job to Duck Hodges. He also started one game in 2021, a tie against the Detroit Lions, but wasn’t given any other opportunities for Pittsburgh until Week 16 of this year. Despite knowing he would be the third-stringer, he re-signed with the Steelers this offseason while also pursuing options for life after football, but his patience has been rewarded. He’s been great over the last three games and is now looking to earn a bigger contract this offseason.
We’ll see what the future holds for Rudolph, but he’s clearly happy with what he’s done so far in his career. Hopefully, the future is even brighter for him.
