By Jacob Jensen
SteelerNation.com
We loved you.
We supported you for 9 years. We bought your jersey. We bought your autographs, your C.U.E.U.P.U. merchandise. We would fight tooth and nail with OBJ and Julio fans to claim you as the best. We would cheer your name, home or away, till our voices were gone. When Ryan Clark questioned your character and said the money is changing you, we had your back. Through everything, we always had your back.
You had the city of Pittsburgh in the palm of your hand. You had an entire fanbase that absolutely loved you. In 2014 during training camp, you posted on Instagram saying that if any fans that couldn’t make it to training camp wanted autographs, that fans could send stuff to you. I was one of those fans. I thought that was so cool of you. You took the time out of your busy NFL schedule to sign what I’m sure was over tens of thousands of autographs, just to give back to the fans. The bond that you had with the city and the fans was unbreakable. We then got to watch you break records and win awards and gain national recognition. We watched you go from one of the best, to the best.
Emotion: boy fumbled the whole post season in the biggest game of year ! Everyone went blind to busy making guys famous not enough reality these days ! 🤙🏾 by the way check the list https://t.co/2SWWT8k0jx
— AB (@AB84) April 7, 2019
Steelers fans are a special breed. We take this sport, this game, very serious. We live and die with the Steelers. For many of us, watching Steeler games isn’t fun. It’s nerve racking. We are so invested in this team that when we lose our whole week is ruined and when we win we are on cloud 9, so I’m sorry if this is dramatic but we are hurt. And angry. We get that there's a business side of football, so I kind of understand wanting more money. Going after Ben hurt, but I took it as “Oh, he’s just upset with this season,”. Demanding a trade was (somewhat) forgivable. I was going to still root for your success from afar. But going after Juju for no reason was the straw that broke the camel's back. That man loves this game as much as we do. All he cares about is winning, and for you to bring up his lowest moment and blame this season on him is unfair and disgusting. Seeing him weeping on the sidelines was heartbreaking enough, and then having it brought back up and thrown in his face by someone that use to be his idol is unforgivable. You have made this city and fan base look like idiots for backing you up. We were blind to what was really happening because all we wanted was for you to be as good of a person off the field as you were on it. We wanted to believe that you just wanted to win, and that all your antics were those of someone tired of losing, but they were just the acts of a selfish man who wanted all of the fame. You couldn’t share the spotlight and you still can’t. That’s why you're still trying to cut down Juju. You're scared that he is going to undermine your legacy, but guess what. You did that yourself. You have become a horrible human being. You're selfish, you don’t care about wins, you just care about stats. One day you're going to realize how big of a mistake you’ve made.
All I ever did was show that man love and respect from the moment I got to the league. I was genuinely happy for him too when he got traded to Oakland w/ a big contract, and now he takes shots at me on social media?
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) April 7, 2019
To Juju:
We have all been bullied before in our lives, but not on this big of stage. I admire your calm and level headedness. Don’t let this jealous man get to you. We know you are going to take your lowest moment and use it as motivation. This town loves you. This fan base loves you. We have your back. I’m sorry this happened to you, as we are partially at blame for creating this monster. Let's move past this and just let him stew in his own bitterness. We have who we need, let’s go win number 7.
#SteelerNation
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