This piece from Paul Zeise on Rod Rutherford on the Steeler’s practice squad is a must read for the day.

More importantly, Rutherford led the Panthers to a respectable two-year record of 17-8, including a victory over Oregon State in the 2002 Insight Bowl, and he had the team in position to win the Big East title both seasons. He couldn’t get the team over the top in either season but it wasn’t entirely his fault. The defense in 2003 couldn’t stop anybody and the team was held back some in 2002 by an offensive philosophy that valued passing yards over establishing a tough, physical run game, and it cost them in some of their more critical matchups down the stretch.

I had the pleasure of covering the Panthers during Rutherford’s career and can say without hesitation he is one of the most under appreciated athletes in school history. I can also say there are few athletes I’ve been around that are easier to root for to succeed.

Rutherford had to endure a lot of criticism during his career, especially during the early part of it. Some of it, maybe the majority of it, was fans being fans, but there was a segment of it that was mean-spirited and racist in its foundation. But Rutherford handled himself with dignity and took it all in stride. He was a model for dealing with and overcoming adversity and a player Pitt fans should be proud is representing their favorite team. It hurts him more than any of them that Pitt didn’t win a couple more big games or get to a BCS bowl during his career.

“The stats, the career numbers, they don’t mean that much to me because we didn’t win as many games as we should have,” Rutherford said. “I take the blame for that. The two West Virginia games really hurt. The first one we had three shots to tie it and didn’t get it done, the second one we just got blown out and it shouldn’t have even come to that. There were some deeper reasons why we didn’t succeed, but I was the quarterback and so I know it was on me.”