JuJu return extends Steelers fan base’s age divide
If you don’t have a strong opinion about JuJu Smith-Schuster’s return to the Steelers, you’re in a vanishingly small minority.
The charismatic 24-year-old receiver’s new one-year deal with the team proved that soon after it was announced Friday afternoon, prompting everything from dance worthy joy to eye-rolling disgust to ripple through a fan base that his presence increasingly has split over the course of his four-year career here.
Among the segment of the team’s following that skews younger, Mr. Smith-Schuster is unquestionably one of the most popular players, primarily because of the way he invites fans into his life via his upbeat approach to an expansive social media portfolio.
From his TikTok dances to his Twitch video gaming streams to
“We lost some key players on both sides of the ball, but at the end of the day, we just got outcoached, outplayed, and that’s just facts. I’m just speaking facts.”
— JuJu Smith-Schuster, Steelers wide receiver
his Instagram workout routines, he’s developed a knack for making his glamorous football life feel relatable for those native to those spaces.
And his decision to return for reportedly less money than he was offered elsewhere only reinforced the warm and fuzzies those in that camp feel for him.
“Dude, you’re honestly an OG, you just gained so much respect and proved to everyone the exact reason I’ve always loved you,” Twitter user Luke Aungst wrote in a reply to Mr. Smith- Schuster’s announcement of the deal. “You LOVE the sport you play, and this shows that you love it over just making a bunch if money, welcome home bud, and you have Steelers nations respect.”
Others will quibble with that assessment.
Among fans who skew older, the persona has worn thin amid the team’s recent on-field disappointments and Mr. Smith-Schuster’s role in them.
Critics will note his fumble in a late-season loss at New Orleans was a fatal blow to the Steelers’ playoff hopes in December 2018. Ditto for a similar gaffe in an overtime loss against Baltimore the following October.
Then, of course, there were his controversial dances on the 50-yard-line logos in opponents’ stadiums this past year. All fun and games while the Steelers were racing out to an 11-0 start, but increasingly a flash point for discord as they scuffled to a 1-4 finish and a playoff loss against the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field.
The uproar the dances caused became so loud that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was forced to address them with the player, saying it was “about respect.” And it’s through that
skeptical lens that many still view Mr. Smith-Schuster.
“Keeping the next generation fan base is apparently more important with JuJu on TikTok than actually winning,” wrote a Twitter user named Matt in reply to Mark Madden, the WXDX-FM sports talk host and frequent Smith-Schuster critic.
Love it or loathe, though, the persona isn’t going anywhere for at least a year.
In an appearance on boxer Ryan Garcia’s podcast earlier this week, Mr. Smith-Schuster defended himself against the criticism of the dances in particular, arguing that they weren’t the reason a once-promising season dissolved.
“When I was dancing on logos and like doing TikTok dances bro everybody was like, ‘Yo, that’s the reason why you’re losing.’ No, we’re not losing because of that, we’re losing because we’re ass,” he said, sporting a bright dyed-blue hairdo.
“We lost some key players
on both sides of the ball, but at the end of the day, we just got outcoached, outplayed — and that’s just facts. I’m just speaking facts.”
Statistically, Mr. Smith-Schuster did play some of his best football down the stretch, catching nine passes for 96 yards and a touchdown in the divisionclinching victory over Indianapolis on Dec. 27, then adding 13 catches for 157 yards and a score in the playoff loss to Cleveland.
It hasn’t been enough to silence his critics, but looking forward to the year ahead, it appears he has no real intention of trying to appease them either.
“I’m going to post,” he told Mr. Garcia. “I’m going to show my personality. Like, that’s what you’re going to get, whether you like it or not.”
So for now, at least, it appears the focal point of Steelers Nation’s generational divide is here to stay, in all its viral glory.