Smith-Schuster plans ‘to keep being himself’
If this were the SteelersBengals rivalry of yesteryear, you might expect to see a group wearing tiger stripes Monday night waiting for JuJu Smith-Schuster at midfield. Because the leading receiver in Pittsburgh is going to play football, but first he’s going to dance, and win or lose, he’s not apologizing for it.
Starting early last month at Dallas, Smith-Schuster began a tradition of posting a TikTok video of himself dancing on the opposing team’s logo before road games. He since has done it on the Steelers logo in the locker room, too, but Sunday night against Buffalo was the first time the other side seemed to notice and take offense. Bills quarterback Josh Allen told his offense while huddled up in the tunnel before the game to “let them do all the talking and all the [expletive] dancing, we’ll do the work.” Safety Jordan Poyer admitted postgame it motivated the Bills defense a bit more than usual, too.
“One thing I’ll tell you guys, I’m not going to stop being myself,” Smith-Schuster said Wednesday after practice. “I’m going to be the JuJu I came in to be: Authentic.”
Smith-Schuster added that he uses his social media platforms to reach out to fans “and grow.” He has 2.6 million followers on TikTok, 1.1 million on Twitter and 3.4 million on Instagram, where he often promotes various products and events. The pregame dance is usually done rather early in the warm-up process, when kickers and punters are practicing rather than the full teams taking the field.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was asked about it Tuesday and claimed he was unaware it was a topic, for his team or for opponents. He also added that pro football players are plenty motivated to begin with.
“I’m just having fun, doing myself. ... I’m not going to stop doing it.”
But if you think there’s no limit to Smith-Schuster’s showmanship, he acknowledged that when he scored a touchdown in the Steelers comeback attempt at Buffalo, he refrained from any theatrics. It wasn’t the time for him to try to go viral again.
“All I could think about was we need to score, get the ball back and try to score again, try to win the game,” Smith- Schuster said. “... When you’re down like that, why dance?”
Perhaps it’s worth noting that Smith-Schuster has been doing good and not just being goofy this season. On Thanksgiving, his foundation provided more than 350 meals for seniors and families in need. Just this week, he partnered with Pay Away
The Layaway, a nonprofit through which he paid off $12,500 worth of customer balances at Burlington Coat Factory in Ross Township.
Classy Cam
As one of eight finalists for the NFL’s Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward must be delivering delightful compliments during games or congratulating opponents after the heat of battle, right?
“I’m kind of shocked because I don’t say really nice things on the field,” Heyward said with a laugh. “I don’t know the criteria they were looking for in me, but I’ll just speak on it as I take pride in being a teammate, in being a part of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Any award, especially an award named after Art Rooney, it’s an honor. But I think it just comes down to representing not only the organization right but your teammates right and respecting the game at the highest level.”
Heyward actually has won an award named after the Steelers founder, not once but twice. Last year he was honored as the winner of the Chief Award by the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers’ Association, which goes to the Steelers player most cooperative with media. Heyward also won in 2014.