Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph was posed a question late last week. It began something like this -- 'Do you find yourself trying to take on the responsibility of helping Kenny Pickett, as opposed to being...' And Rudolph quickly chimed in with "Being like someone else?" The someone else that Rudolph was talking about? Ben Roethlisberger.
“We’ve probably all been in situations, whether it’s high school, college or pro, where we’re the incumbent starter, and there’s a new freshman, there’s a new rookie, there’s a highly recruited guy. I’ve always believed in, the starter shouldn’t have to go out of his way, because he’s got a lot of things to deal with. But definitely be open to questions and help the growth and development of a younger quarterback, yeah.”
Steelers' QB Mason Rudolph makes a throw in OTA's (Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers)
Let's take a trip down memory lane real quick in case you've forgotten the history here. The Steelers drafted Rudolph in 2019 a season after Roethlisberger threw for over 5000 yards. Antonio Brown had just been shipped to the Raiders and Roethlisberger believed the team should be loading up on as many players as they could to win now.
“So I was surprised when they took a quarterback, because I thought that maybe in the third round, you can get some really good football players that can help this team now,” Roethlisberger said. “Nothing against Mason. I think he’s a great football player. I don’t know him personally, but I’m sure he’s a great kid.”
Directly after the draft in 2018 Rudolph was asked about working and learning from Roethlisberger and he said, 'it’s not Ben’s job to teach me anything'. Roethlisberger seemed to take that comment the wrong way right off the bat.
"I don't think I'll need to, now that he said he doesn't need me," Roethlisberger said. "If he asks me a question, I might just have to point to the playbook."
Joe Rutter of the Tribune-Review provided comments from Roethlisberger, who said his previous remark about how Rudolph "doesn't need me" wasn't analyzed properly.
Little did we all know at the time, but Roethlisberger would miss nearly the entire 2018 season and Rudolph would be pushed into action in his second year. Had Roethlisberger stayed healthy in 2019 Rudolph would've only played 2 games his entire career up to this point. A meaningless game in the 2020 finale against Cleveland, and last year against the Lions at Heinz Field when Roethlisberger had COVID-19.
When Roethlisberger retired many of the teams players, former teammates, and even legends like Joe Greene, and Terry Bradshaw posted messages for him. One notably absent was Rudolph. It isn't a coincidence. The two were able to get along enough on the practice field, and during game days but they weren't friends.
Shortly after Roethlisberger retired Rudolph took his first small jab at Roethlisberger. He was asked about his chance to be the starting quarterback.
"I can maybe be a bit more myself, being the leader that I've always been at the quarterback position and not worried about stepping on the toes of a longtime Hall of Fame player."
Stepping on the toes? C'mon now. Rudolph couldn't beat out Roethlisberger if he was having his best day and Roethlisberger was 46 years old. So how was he going to be stepping on his toes?
But to Rudolph's credit he has stepped into a leadership role with Pickett, and has helped Mitchell Trubisky along the way too. Even though it appears both players will eventually knock Rudolph off the roster.
“It’s just small things here and there. ... We’re going through plays, I’m like, ‘Hey, what’d you see here? Why’d you do this? What footwork do you like to use here?’ All little things like that,” Pickett said. “We’re kind of working together and everybody’s getting better. It’s good competition.”
The situation with Rudolph and Pickett is vastly different than the one with Roethlisberger and Rudolph. Roethlisberger was the entrenched starter and a future Hall of Famer. There was no need for Roethlisberger to spend time mentoring Rudolph because he wasn't going to play. There wasn't any indication that Roethlisberger didn't help and have a professional relationship with him. He just had other things to worry about rather than being Rudolph's mentor. Rudolph at this point is a career back up who is likely going to be heading out of town soon. Those are polar opposites on the spectrum.
It's good to see Rudolph showing some leadership skills and helping out the other quarterbacks. Maybe that will help give the Steelers more success, but he needs to stop throwing jabs at Roethlisberger. He isn't there to defend himself and he certainly wouldn't be saying things like that if he was still in that locker room. Did Roethlisberger go about all of it the right way? No. He didn't, but he has to be given different rights than Rudolph. In a town where trophies matter the most, Roethlisberger gave the city 2.
