Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Mason Rudolph had to be taken off the field by the staff on Sunday after a scary hit that knocked him out and struck his head on the ground during the play. He was then taken to a Pittsburgh hospital and underwent a medical evaluation.
According to multiple sources, the NFL player was released Sunday evening from the hospital. The team said that he had a concussion and was resting at home.
The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) criticized the team for its inability to arrange a medical cart onto the field immediately after he was knocked out.
Rudolph’s helmet and facemask were struck by the helmet of Baltimore Ravens’ Earl Thomas.
After getting hit, he laid motionless on the field. It was Steelers’ lineman Alejandro Villanueva and others who signaled that Rudolph required urgent medical attention.
Although a medical cart came onto the field, Rudolph had to unsteadily walk off with assistance. The scary hit did to negatively impact Rudolph’s health even after the medical cart’s malfunction.
George Atallah, the Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs at the NFLPA tweeted, “Embarrassing. I guess $15 billion a year [the NFL’s revenue last year] can’t buy you a working medical cart.”
Thomas told reporters, “I hit the strike zone like we talk about. I didn’t go high. I didn’t intentionally try to hurt him. I’m worried about him. I heard he’s at the hospital. My prayers go out to him and his family. I’ve never tried to hurt anybody.”
Zach Banner, the Steelers offensive lineman, took to Twitter on Sunday evening to say that he had contacted Rudolph. He wrote, “Mason and I talked over the phone. For however many seconds, I was scared about losing my friend, and then God answered my prayers. I love you @Rudolph2Mason. Get better!” Devlin Hodges, who replaced Rudolph on Sunday, said, “Mason’s my guy. He’s one of my closer friends on the team. He’s really taken me in. When you saw me standing on the sideline just standing there [momentarily], it wasn’t ’cause I was freaking out about me going in. I was just thinking about Mason: ‘What’s up with him? Is he okay?’ Because there for a minute, he was just laying there. He wasn’t even moving. That’s tough to look at.”
