Shortly after it was announced that the Pittsburgh Steelers were shelving Mason Rudolph for the undrafted rookie Devlin Hodges Tuesday, the young quarterback has been caught deleting old tweets expressing support for President Donald Trump.
Online gumshoes were quick to screencap several tweets the rookie had on his Twitter page before they were deleted. One tweet read "Donald Trump," with a thumbs up and an American flag emoji. "Wanting Donald Trump to fail is like wanting the pilot to crash the plane that we are ALL on," another since-deleted tweet read.
The quarterback got the nod from head coach Mike Tomlin to start over Rudolph on Tuesday. "We met as a staff, we've decided that we're going to start Duck this week," the Steelers coach said during a press conference. "Really, the decision is clear for us and [there are] some really clear reasons why. Like I talked about after the game, I thought he provided us a spark in-game. I'm hopeful that he's capable of continuing to provide that spark as we step into this stadium."
Hodges will start next Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns, not long after the infamous brawl between Mason Rudolph and Myles Garrett. Garrett was hit with an indefinite suspension after ripping off Rudolph's helmet and striking him with it. He also claimed he heard the Steelers QB utter a racial slur, a claim the NFL has not been able to confirm.
"I know what I heard," Garrett said in a statement. "Whether my opponent's comment was born out of frustration or ignorance, I cannot say. But his actions do not excuse my lack of restraint in the moment, and I truly regret the impact this had on the league, the Browns, and our devoted fans."
