Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph posted an emotional tribute to Mike Tomlin on his social media accounts on Monday. Tomlin resigned on Jan. 13 after 19 seasons as the Steelers' head coach.
"William & Mary's finest. Nineteen seasons, 200 wins, two Super Bowl appearances and a Lombardi trophy at age 36," Rudolph wrote. "A gold jacket career by any measure. Despite coaching thousands of players — you made time for real conversations with all of us. You cared enough to ask about our parents, grandparents, girlfriends, wives, and so many more. Practice squad, or starter, it never mattered to you. You drafted me, taught me, challenged me, stayed patient with me, celebrated with me, and most importantly, you kept the same positive energy, win or lose, and never blinked. You were the unwavering rock for our team and it was a privilege to call you my head coach for seven seasons. I will miss our constant banter, your witty one-liners, and the Denzel Washington-like swagger you carried on Sundays. To the biggest, baddest, most boisterous personality I will likely ever know—Thank you, Mike T."
Tomlin gave Rudolph high praise for displaying a cool, calm and collected demeanor when replacing an injured Aaron Rodgers in the second half of the Steelers' Week 11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals .
"Mason's proved in the past what he showed today," Tomlin said. "That's why we value him as a member of this collective and appreciative of his play. He's always delivered when called upon in the past. His performance was consistent with what he's done in the past for us. Not that we take it for granted. We don't. We appreciate it."
Rudolph was Tomlin's backup quarterback for seven seasons. Rudolph returned to the Steelers after spending one season with the Tennessee Titans in 2024.
Rudolph's lowest moment of his career occurred when Myles Garrett ripped his helmet off and hit him over the head with it during a brawl on Thursday Night Football in Cleveland in November of 2019. Garrett was fined and suspended for the rest of the year for the incident.
Surprisingly, that wasn't the worst part. Garrett accused Rudolph of calling him a racial slur, a claim Rudolph denied as a "bold-faced lie." The claim was a major attack on Rudolph's character. Tomlin defended Rudolph on ESPN's First Take .
"The most recent one this past weekend, I took offense to it, to be quite honest with you," Tomlin told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. "… I fully support Mason Rudolph . We, as an organization, fully support Mason Rudolph. To be quite honest with you, we were hacked off by what we saw this weekend."
Tomlin added: "I think [Rudolph's] reputation needs to be defended and defended aggressively."
At Rudolph's lowest moment, Tomlin had his back.
The NFL found no evidence to Garrett's claim. Both players have since moved on, shaking hands after a 2021 game in Cleveland.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Mason Rudolph Pens Emotional Tribute to Mike Tomlin
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