Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph goes a different direction when asked about his time with recently traded WR George Pickens
A lot has come to light since the Pittsburgh Steelers traded George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. And for the most part, actually no, the only part, it has come with negative undertones regarding Pickens' time in Pittsburgh. But when asked about his relationship with Pickens, Mason Rudolph took a different route… Mason Rudolph enjoyed […]
A lot has come to light since the Pittsburgh Steelers traded George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys.
And for the most part, actually no, the only part, it has come with negative undertones regarding Pickens' time in Pittsburgh.
But when asked about his relationship with Pickens, Mason Rudolph took a different route…
Mason Rudolph enjoyed his time with George Pickens
"I loved George [Pickens], and I enjoyed going to work with him," Rudolph told the Kaboly and Mack Podcast. "He was a fun personality. I tried to feed him as much as we could when we played, because good things tended to happen when you did. But I understand the way things go. There was just a need, I guess, for a fresh start."
It's a different tone and tenor from Rudolph, who developed a solid on-field dynamic with Pickens down the stretch of the 2023 season, helping propel the Steelers from 7-7 to 10-7 and a playoff appearance.
Even still, it seems like many of the other Steelers players, or at least those in 2024, were fed up with Pickens:
"There's a lot of guys in that defense—even the offense," Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly of the Pat McAfee show told 93.7 The Fan. "There were probably a couple of guys that you would be shocked at, that I did hear after the fact. They were pretty much saying, 'See ya.' They didn't want anything to do with him…
"…I think it needed to be done," said Kaboly. "I think it was getting really ugly behind the scenes there. And I think some of the players of veteran leadership weren’t too thrilled with George. I don’t know the timeline on that. So I think that pushed it to the edge. If you're hearing Pickens’ antics that people are saying, imagine the stuff that you're not hearing. I think there's a lot of stuff that we still don't know. After all this went through, saying 'Oh geez, if you would've known this, the trade would have made a ton of sense.'”
Rudolph isn't one for stirring the pot, so this reaction or statement was to be expected, but it coincides with what Pickens had to say about himself during Cowboys OTAs on Tuesday…
“I’m actually like a chill guy. There’s a big phase of a tornado that’s not even true. I’m a chill guy, and I just love to work.”
His history of fines and sourced details on the kind of player he was during the week suggest otherwise, but perhaps he's tuned over a new leaf already.
