Joe Haden’s right. The reliably collapsing Steelers have way bigger problems than JuJu Smith-Schuster dancing on opponents’ logos.
One would be a secondary that allowed several Bengals behind it Monday night. Good for them that Ryan Finley couldn’t take full advantage because he can’t … well, he can’t throw.
Another would be a compromised run defense that made Finley look like Michael Vick. (That untouched, 23-yard touchdown run shall live in infamy, somewhere behind Terelle Pryor’s untouched, 93-yard scamper but not many others in the category called “Ridiculous Quarterback Touchdown Runs Allowed by Steelers.”)
The biggest problem would be a broken offense that features a quarterback aging faster than Steve Carell in “Evan Almighty,” a line that is truly offensive and a group of receivers that leads the NFL in drops.
That group still includes JuJu. You wouldn’t know it, though, by some of his paltry game totals, including 15 yards on three catches Monday. He went for more yards backward on that monster hit from Vonn Bell, than he did forward.
Once a power guy, JuJu is now a singles hitter. The proof is in his cringeworthy yards-per-catch average. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth mentioning again because it’s still true: JuJu has fallen below the dreaded Hines Line.
Explainer: Hines Ward — who belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — could barely walk in his final season (2011) and after recording double digits in yards-per-catch all his career, saw the number shrink to 176th in the NFL that season, at an almost unfathomable 8.3.
JuJu’s at 8.2.
That is barely half his rookie-year figure, which he followed with 12.8 and 13.1 the next two seasons. Maybe the Steelers could make better use of a guy with two 97-yard touchdowns to his credit, or maybe JuJu really has become a singles hitter at age 24 (and maybe the logo dancing is a way to get some extra cardio in).
So yes, the Steelers have actual football issues and many of them. But Haden was wrong in letting JuJu off the hook with that Tuesday tweet, which in part read like this: “My dawg @TeamJuJu dancing is the LEAST of our problems!”
First, be sure the Steelers would take great exception if somebody danced or stomped or spiked a football on their logo. Silly or not, that’s the way athletes roll. Disrespect, perceived and real, is everywhere.
Just a few weeks ago, the Ravens and Titans almost had a pregame brawl over the Titans stomping on the Ravens logo.
Switching to hockey, the Penguins are liable to call the police if a reporter accidentally sets a toe on their carpeted locker-room logo.
Much as I like Haden, I’ll defer to the great Rod Woodson on this matter.
Woodson, on “The Rich Eisen Show,” referred to the logo as “sacred ground.” He also believes a JuJu-like display could give a team “added motivation to play even harder.” I’m not sure about that, but it could absolutely spark a pregame altercation — it’s headed that way — which could impact the game in the form of penalties or ejections.
Basically, it’s unnecessary, disrespectful and selfish.
And massively embarrassing.
How did you feel, as a Steelers fan, watching Monday Night Football with 12.7 million others when ESPN ran rapid-fire clips of JuJu spiking the ball on the Bengals logo and JuJu getting lit up like a Christmas tree?
Make ya proud?
Someday, maybe, JuJu will be embarrassed by this. I sure hope so. The guy has too much going for him. He plays hard. He helps all kinds of people. He has a big heart. It’s a shame somebody in that room — notably Ben Roethlisberger or Maurkice Pouncey — hasn’t pulled him aside to tell him how foolish this looks. Or maybe they have and he didn’t want to hear it.
It’s absurd that Mike Tomlin has to answer questions about a player dissing opponents in order to boost his TikTok profile, which in turn boosts his bank account.
There is nothing wrong, obviously, with using social media to boost your brand. It isn’t new that professional athletes want as much money and fame as possible.
But why use the other team’s logo?
It’s equally absurd that Tomlin has to say, like a parent, “I do plan to talk to JuJu.”
How does JuJu not cringe when he hears his coach utter those words in public?
How is he not mortified?
This is an adult we’re talking about. And like Tomlin said, it’s about respect. You don’t intentionally show up an opponent before a game, especially when you’re averaging 8.2 yards per catch.
The Steelers have enough problems.
Joe Starkey: jstarkey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @joestarkey1. Joe Starkey can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: December 23, 2020, 2:29 p.m.