Steelers rookie QB Mason Rudolph believes he and Ben Roethlisberger are 'going to be friends'

Nate Davis | USA TODAY

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So maybe everything is going to be hunky-dory in Pittsburgh after all.

Mason Rudolph, the Steelers' third-round pick last month — and the apparent heir apparent to one Ben Roethlisberger — met with reporters at the team's rookie minicamp Friday. He offered a much different perspective on the quarterbacks' relationship than might be expected in the wake of Big Ben's recent commentary, which partially questioned why the front office would select Rudolph.

"I think the media got it kind of twisted around a little bit," Rudolph said. "He's a Hall of Fame quarterback. He's a competitive guy. That's what I would expect. He's a longtime starter.

"I'm sure when we get in this building, in this room, we're going to be friends, and I'm going to let him do his thing and pick up what I can from him but not bother him."

Rudolph said Roethlisberger even unexpectedly texted him to wish him well during the minicamp.

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"He reached out and said, 'Hey, good luck in rookie minicamp.' I was really appreciative of that," Rudolph said. "I just said, 'Hey, thanks, look forward to meeting you.'

"It meant a lot that he reached out."

Before offering what seemed like an olive branch, Roethlisberger said in a radio interview last week that he "was surprised when they took a quarterback because I thought that maybe in the third round, you know you can get some really good football players that can help this team now." This despite the fact Big Ben has openly pondered retirement in recent years and rarely tends to make it through a full season unscathed.

Roethlisberger, 36, recently claimed he'd like to play another three to five years and has said he'd refer Rudolph to the playbook if the rookie sought assistance.

Rudolph threw 86 TDs over his last three seasons at Oklahoma State.

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