Former Steelers Quarterback Mason Rudolph May Be Leaning Towards Heading To The NFC

Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Mason Rudolph may not have found his team for the 2023 NFL season yet, but that doesn't mean he is letting any time go to waste. Rudolph spent his Saturday with fellow Northwestern High School (NHS) alumni, Cordarrelle Patterson, ensuring that there was nothing stagnant about either of their offseasons.

In a series of stories on Patterson's Instagram, Rudolph is shown doing dropbacks and letting the ball fly to a speedy Patterson down the field. Soon after, Rudolph made sure that everyone knew what was going on when he shared Patterson's stories on his own Instagram. 

While it may be a normal part of the offseason for players from various teams to work out with one another, this particular session had a bit more history to it.

Former Steelers Quarterback Rudolph Has History With Patterson

This is far from the first time that Patterson has caught a football from Rudolph. Their roots reach all the way back to high school at Northwestern, where Patterson was a star from 2007 to 2009, just missing an equally-dynamic Rudolph, who played from 2011 to 2014. 

Both players excelled on their high school fields, continued that into college and then found their way to the NFL (Rudolph to the Steelers in 2018, Patterson to the Minnesota Vikings in 2013).

Despite the years between their time at NHS, in 2019, they both had a reunion on the same field that they individually played on, but never together. A new head coach at NHS brought them to their old high school where Rudolph let the world know that he still held that same pride in his school and program with a tweet. Who was standing next to Rudolph in the picture he posted? A smiling Patterson.

Patterson Doing Recruiting For 2023?

Players post to social media all the time and most of it means nothing more than a fun moment or to give the fans a glimpse behind the face mask, but then there are times when it seems like they went out of their way to say something.

Patterson has always been known for his swift, field-stretching style and special teams magic, but Rudolph has always been more reserved (other than an infamous scuffle with the Cleveland Browns). 

That more internalized tendency is what makes the series of posts on their respective Instagrams significant. Patterson, who originally posted the short videos to his Instagram story, let his excitement out by typing out "LFG N SH--" (a shorthand of "Let's F---ing Go") in reference to him and Rudolph working on their timing.

Is An NHS Reunion Coming?

While Patterson is currently under contract with the Atlanta Falcons, Rudolph is still searching for a home next season. Having only ever played for the Steelers, this is a chance for Rudolph to get away from any lingering ghosts or shadows that he may have been under in Pittsburgh and possibly bring about a second act for a career that really hasn't had a chance to get going yet.

For Patterson, this could be an opportunity to bring a familiar face with NHS bonds onto the team, and for the Falcons it's not a bad idea to find a financially viable answer for a quarterbacks group that has more questions than answers for 2023. 

Always a backup in Pittsburgh, Rudolph has wanted a chance for a while. If the energy and hype for the few seconds of video that they each shared was any evidence, Atlanta may be a perfect landing spot for Rudolph to start figuring out what his next chapter looks like.

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