Sep 13, 2010 By Herald Standard Staff 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall learned a valuable lesson in patience Sunday afternoon. After spending most of his day getting beaten up by one Atlanta defender after another, Mendenhall’s patience and perseverance came through right when the Steelers needed it most.

Mendenhall took a handoff from quarterback Dennis Dixon on the Steelers’ 60th play from scrimmage and, seconds later; he was determined to make it their last snap.

Fifty yards later, Mendenhall was in the end zone about to absorb the best tackle he had taken all day.

“That was exciting, seeing my teammates all come running up to me after that play,” he said. Mendenhall added that he had never ended a game quite like he did this one, this 15-9 overtime thriller over Atlanta that christened the 2010 season.

“It’s a great way to end a game, though, isn’t it?” he asked rhetorically.

Also, it was a just reward for a player who learned about patience while waiting in the wings behind Willie Parker, who had learned the lesson from Jerome Bettis.

You see, patience is a virtue every running back must have, but it’s something they all must learn on the field. All of their lives, they have tried to be the fastest. Speed, after all, is what being a running back is all about.

“All day on the run, we were creating seams,” Mendenhall said, referring to his first 21 carries that netted 70 yards in small chunks. The last 50 helped Mendenhall finish the day with 120 yards on 22 carries and the game’s only touchdown. “In the run game, you just have to be patient. We knew that something was going to open up and it did in that overtime.”

Oh, it opened up, all right. Just like the parting of the Red Sea. Mendenhall was a good 25 yards on his way to pay dirt before a Falcons defender could get a hand on him.

“He got my foot a little bit,” Mendenhall said. “I almost went down, but I was able to stay up and get in.”

It’s called “22 double,” but nobody knew this play would work as well as it did when it was called. According to Mendenhall, the success of the play was as close to a total team effort as a team can experience.

“It’s kind of an option play because any hole that opens, you take it,” he said. “Everybody got their blocks on that one and I cut it up and out. If everybody does their job right, it gets me a 1-on-1 matchup. That’s what I got.”

And he took it, all the way to the end zone.

Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com.