Who knows how much Mason Rudolph thought about the gravity of the situation?
But there’s no doubt it crossed his mind. At 28 years old, brought back on a whim this offseason to be the third quarterback and more than two years removed from his last start (and more than four years removed from the Myles Garrett incident), this very well could have been it.
Getting an opportunity to start an NFL game as a third-string quarterback doesn’t happen a lot. For Rudolph to get a chance Saturday night as the Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Cincinnati Bengals, Kenny Pickett had to injure his ankle, and Mitch Trubisky had to implode in losses against the Patriots and Colts before Mike Tomlin reluctantly turned to Rudolph.
Imagine how paralyzing it could have been for Rudolph, knowing that the Steelers would be all but eliminated from the playoffs with a loss, and knowing that if he played poorly, it was fair to wonder who in the world would ever give him another shot.
As a free agent this offseason, Rudolph drew limited interest before coming back to the Steelers for a veteran’s minimum contract. And you’ve seen how bad some teams’ quarterback situations are these days.
Asked after the game if he thought this could be his last opportunity, Rudolph replied, “You never know.”
“You have confidence in yourself as a player,” he added, “but you are kind of thinking, ‘Am I going to jump into the commercial real estate realm next year, or am I going to be playing quarterback?'”
Rudolph gave a little wry smile, perhaps because there was a lot more truth to his answer than he might have wanted. If he had played poorly against the Bengals, Rudolph’s odds of ever starting another NFL game would have been quite long. Just look how long it took him to get back into the lineup when both Pickett and Trubisky were struggling daily.
If you don’t think that’s real, think again.
After an 86-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens on the second play from scrimmage, Rudolph looked up to the stands to find where his parents were. He knew what was at stake, yet still performed flawlessly.
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