The Pittsburgh Steelers have a long history of finding and developing wide receivers. In recent years, they've also had a pattern of talented pass-catchers acting out on game day or on social media. From the perhaps mild fun of a JuJu Smith-Schuster or Chase Claypool to the extremes of Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown, the Steelers fan base has dealt with plenty of antics to make them wonder if George Pickens' recent activity on social media combined with his demeanor on game day is sending him towards a path that eventually led to all of those other guys leaving town.
%202023%20Camp%20Final%20with%20Logos/2L9A5348-544x306.jpg "Steelers George Pickens Cody White")
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers' George Pickens takes a break during the team's 2023 training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin downplayed Pickens' social media scrubbing as "reality television" and a "cute story" for the media to cover while defending the second-year wideout with the talking point that he's just frustrated because he wants to be a significant part of the team. Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan on Tuesday's PM Team w/Poni & Mueller show complained about Tomlin's lack of grasp on the fan base's sentiments right now given the franchise's recent history with talented, but volatile receivers.
"To me, it was a tone-deaf answer," he said about Tomlin's response to questions about Pickens. "There’s just zero sense of awareness about some of the issues fans have had with Steelers receivers over the last few years. Even if you’re supportive of George [Pickens] and don’t think it’s a big deal, I don’t like the talking down to fans on this topic."
He continued that Tomlin lived through the trials and tribulations just as much as the fan base did with Brown and should be more aware of what he's saying. He then offered a way that he wished Tomlin had handled it.
"Fans are worried another superstar receiver is going to go off the deep end," he said. "Tell us why he’s not going to do that. Tell us why he can be on the sideline after a touchdown pouting and it’s not a big deal."
His co-host Chris Mueller tried to play a little Tomlin psychologist and get into his head and said he thinks the coach doesn't think it's an issue because he says it's not. He elaborated that he doesn't think Tomlin cares about talking down to fans one bit.
"Broadly, I think he loves how passionate the fans here are, good and bad," Mueller said. "In an individual isolated incident, he doesn't give a rats a** what fans think."
Mueller continued that Tomlin thinks it's a non-issue because he is dealing with it. If the social media activity of Pickens reached another level though, Mueller said Tomlin might be singing a different tune.
Don Wright / Ap
Pittsburgh Steelers former wide receiver Antonio Brown should be a warning to George Pickens that talent can't make up for distracting antics.
He pointed to Brown's Facebook Live incident after the 2017 AFC Divisional win against the Kansas City Chiefs as an instance where Tomlin was dismissive of social media use because it ended up painting him in a bad light.
In the case of Bryant in 2017, when he got frustrated that he wasn't involved enough in the offense and jumped to social media to complain he was better than Smith-Schuster, Tomlin deemed it "out of bounds" and "somewhat of a distraction." Bryant was made inactive for the team's next game against the Detroit Lions as a result.
"In this case, nothing that Pickens is doing is like a live video on Instagram saying, 'F this team' while Mike [Tomlin] is in the background congratulating them on a win," Mueller said. "So, I don't think he cares period."
Steelers' Tomlin Will Do Something More When It's Needed
Both hosts said they think that Tomlin will escalate potential discipline for Pickens when it gets to the level where he does actually care and thinks the actions are getting to the status that they are detrimental to the team.
Peter Diana / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Twitter/X
Steelers' JuJu Smith-Schuster dances in Cincinnati while Chase Claypool films him.
The two related it to the situation with Smith-Schuster and filming videos dancing on other teams' logos during away games. It didn't matter to Tomlin until it did and he said he was going to address it with him.
As long as Pickens' antics are "media creations" according to Mueller, he's not going to change his tone. Once things are different, maybe the kid gloves towards Pickens change.
Does Tomlin need to take a harder stance on Pickens? Comment below!
#SteelerNation
