In his first interview since the Earl Thomas hit that knocked him unconscious, Mason Rudolph shared he has no memory of the harrowing incident.
Speaking with reporters Monday, via ESPN, Rudolph said, “I did not remember the play at all.”
“Everything before the play and after the play. It was weird. I had to go back and ask the coach, what was the play call because for some reason, just that play was kind of blank. But everything before and after was clear as day.”
He spoke about the much-talked-about cart incident, where the vehicle lost power and had to be pushed off the field, leaving Rudolph to walk off woozily while being supported by teammates.
“When I was on the ground, they made me move my arms and legs and made sure I didn’t have any type of spinal cord injury,” Rudolph said. “I guess there were plenty of memes about the cart not working. I wouldn’t have needed to be in the cart because I passed all of the tests on the ground. I would’ve walked, regardless of whether the cart was operational or not.”
Rudolph shared that the reason he was knocked unconscious had everything to do with the location, calling it a “freak thing the way it hit my jaw.”
“It was a sweet spot, shut me out black. Probably been hit like that many times and that’s never happened. It was a weird deal.”
Thankfully the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback has since been cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol and practiced fully Monday. He’s expected to start under center for the Steelers when they play on Monday night against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 28.