Mason Rudolph’s new girlfriend shows perhaps life as a backup QB isn’t so bad

There are many who think Mason Rudolph, the Steelers third-year backup quarterback, just doesn’t have what it takes to elevate his game to starter status.

Maybe those people are right. It’s hard to say with backup quarterbacks, especially when they’re young and have to learn by mostly seeing and observing and not by actually doing.

Rudolph, who has appeared in 15 games for Pittsburgh, clearly has a lot of work to do to convince his bosses and Steelers fans that he can be THE MAN when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger finally hangs up his cleats for good.

When it comes to the ladies, however, apparently Rudolph already has what it takes. Rudolph took to social media earlier in the week to make his relationship with tennis star, Eugenie Bouchard, official. Rudolph posted an Instagram picture of the new couple in a loving embrace on some beach somewhere, complete with the caption “My Valentine.” Based on my own dating life, I feel that Rudolph may have been strongly encouraged to go public with his relationship during the most stressful and confusing romantic holiday for new couples—although that is just a very educated guess on my part.

But I digress.

Good for Rudolph. Bouchard is gorgeous and quite successful in the very lucrative sport of women’s professional tennis. After researching her Wikipedia page, calling Bouchard a tennis star may be a bit of a reach, considering she’s only won one career title, has never captured a Grand Slam event and is currently ranked 141st in the world. However, she’s also won nearly $6.5 million in prize money, which ain’t chump change.

An independently wealthy woman like that could probably have her choice of any starting quarterback in the NFL. So the fact that Rudolph, he of the nine career starts, zero Super Bowl titles and $3.9 million rookie deal, caught her eye is impressive.

Let’s face it, a first-string warehouse worker couldn’t land a Bouchard. Heck, I doubt even a junior attorney for a successful law firm could win her heart.

Aren’t comedians always joking about how women don’t really care about anything other than what a man does for a living? I mean, any job title that has the word “backup” in it should eventually make a woman ask her man what he is doing with his life. “What is your plan?”

Evidently, Rudolph hasn’t had to have that talk with his new sweetie just yet. He might, and when that happens, well, it will make all of those Cleveland Browns Twitter trolls seem tame by comparison.

In the meantime, to paraphrase Mel Brooks when Sir Patrick Stewart was kissing Amy Yasbeck at the end of the movie, Robin Hood: Men in Tights: “It’s good to be the backup quarterback.”