‘No disrespect to Mason Rudolph’

There’s no room for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in the lineup — at least not room enough in an ESPN SportsCenter graphic. 

A picture may say a thousand words, but for Mason Rudolph, the lack of a picture says it all.

SportsCenter’s Elle Duncan and Jeremy Fowler were discussing the quarterback battle brewing in Steelers OTAs. Fowler said that according to a league source, “[the Steelers] didn’t draft Kenny Pickett for him to sit all that long.”

While it was mentioned that Rudolph was getting game simulated reps over the summer, there wasn’t room for him in the graphic at the bottom of the ESPN broadcast.

“Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky competing for Steeler starting QB job,” the screen read. Then a descriptor: “Trubisky opened OTAs with 1st-team reps, followed by Mason Rudolph.” However, Rudolph’s photo wasn’t featured onscreen.

“It’s no disrespect to Mason Rudolph, there just wasn’t room for his headshot down there at the bottom of the screen, so that’s why we just have the two,” Duncan explained as the broadcasters moved onto other news.

To add a little more salt into the wound, Duncan added: “Pittsburgh a long shot to win the division at 10-1, according to Caesar’s.”

ESPN SportsCenter graphic leaves Mason Rudolph photo out of Steelers lineup

It’s likely that for television, a Pickett-Trubisky battle draws more attention, with Mason Rudolph being the least attention-getting name in the lineup. Trubisky struggled for years with the Chicago Bears before getting a second chance with the Steelers, and Pickett was drafted with the No. 20 overall pick this April. Frankly, Mason Rudolph has become an afterthought, with two quarterbacks coming in and competing for the starting job despite Rudolph’s four years with the team.

In January, Rudolph seemed to be looking forward to Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, believing that he would now have a chance to lead the black and yellow.

“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,” Rudolph told ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.

Still, Rudolph anticipated a battle at the quarterback position, although being pitted against Trubisky and Pickett was likely not the battle he expected back in January. Sadly, it was Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins who were initially competing for the job, but Haskins passed away in a car accident in early April.

Despite being the second for the 1st-team reps, Rudolph appears to be last in the conversation, and it’ll be an uphill battle to get the ball back into his hands. Rudolph, a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm recipient, will now face Pickett, another Johnny Unitas Golden Arm recipient: may the best Golden Arm win.