Overreactions from Steelers Nation: George Pickens’ “antics”
Welcome to my weekly edition of “Overreactions from Steelers Nation” a weekly column where I poke fun at fans, reporters, and so-called experts while trying to figure out if some of these hot takes are real – or just for attention.
Leave it to the buzzards that are bloggers and shock jock radio to blow up a situation. They circle each game, each practice, each presser, just looking to swoop in on something that can get them an extra click, view, or other pittance of a reaction that could translate to an extra advertising penny in their pocket.
Nothing could be truer of the Steelers 19-16 win over the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday. Before the game was even over some of these sites started publishing clips and “stories” about Steelers rookie WR George Pickens being visibly animated on the sideline, in what can only be lip-read as “give me the ball”.
I can end this column quickly by saying “Who cares?!” but the aftermath deserves more attention than the actual antics.
First, Pickens isn’t Antonio Brown. Neither is Diontae Johnson, nor was Chase Claypool or JuJu Smith-Schuster. Brown is his own animal, a character with an infectious smile that begged his way out of Pittsburgh and further out of the league by his actions – which also included a recent stand-off with police.
Now that we got that out of the way, having animated receivers isn’t exclusively a Steelers thing. See also Chad Johnson, er, Chad Ochocinco, Randy Moss, Michael Irvin, Terrell Owens, and oh, I don’t know, just look around the past, present, and yes, the future of the NFL. Receivers tend to be a different bread – accept it, just as yinz did when Hines Ward was prancing into the endzone in the Super Bowl.
Back to Pickens: was he doing anything to negatively impact his team? Did he head to the locker room and quit on his team? No. Did he get into a shouting match with coaches or get physical with them? Did he do that with teammates?
No, no, and no.
What Pickens is guilty of is being a young man who forgot that there’s cameras everywhere. Each and every moment can and will be captured, only to be exploited by the clickbait media mentioned above.
That same media has forgotten that their job (if they’re even paid) only exists because of these players. That doesn’t put the players beyond a level of criticism, but the art of journalism is all but dead. Instead, its these little microcosms which exploit players to draw attention, to the “reporter” (or their platform) for maximum effect.
It’s for clicks, likes, views, and Google ads.
And it’s amplified by every copycat imitator who thinks they’re the next NFL Insider. They don’t care who they step on, so long as one more person likes, one more person comments, or one more person shares their “work”.
It gets even more sensational as the team plays poorly, and in the case of the Steelers, they’ve been in bounce-back form for some time. The team has rarely faltered under head coach Mike Tomlin, which is why a victory for the Steelers has been a pretty safe bet for fans in recent times (head to onlinecasinos.co.uk for the best sports betting apps).
While was tough going for Pittsburgh during the start of the season, they’ve now won three of their four games since the bye week. Yet, there’s never a follow-up, never a retraction, never an apology for any harm the talking heads cause with their actions. It’s onto the next story, win or lose – and when it’s a win, you can gurantee they’ll find some else negative to drum up.
Next week, it will once again be how Mike Tomlin needs fired, despite seemingly turning his team around once again for a late run in the AFC North.
But this week, the cameras didn’t turn away – only the so-called people covering the team did, when Pickens came up later in the game, talking up Najee Harris after a single-reception stat line didn’t keep the receiver from blocking for his running back.
No, that would detract from the sensationalism and outright filth that media, not just social media, has become. Focus on the negative, ignore the positive. Instead, the negative dwelled on one outburst. It dwelled on Pickens’ two targets.
It missed the high-fives, helmet slaps, and smiling. It missed how Pickens, who leads eligible Steelers receivers in YPC with 13.8, is being double-teamed and became the focus of opposing defenses. This has opened things up for his teammates, such as Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth.
And it also shows that Pickens, in only his 12th game as a pro, is already ascending becoming the top receiving threat on the Steelers.
You would think that these outlets would promote how the second-round pick is killing it for Pittsburgh, but they’d rather beat a non-story to death. Please fans, don’t be guilty of the same… because Mike Tomlin is having a laugh at their expense:
I’d rather say woah than sick ‘em. I want a guy that wants to be a significant part of what it is that we do.
Now the appropriate and professional and mature way to express that, we’re growing and working on, and we will continue. But that spirit, that competitive spirit, the guy that wants the ball, I want that guy. I would imagine that T.J. wants to lay the quarterback down more. We’ve got competitors. This is professional football. These guys know that they have to deliver.
So, for a guy that wants to do that, I’m not going to make that a negative, no matter how silly I think the commentary is or people talking about him expressing frustrations and stuff and trying to make it a negative storyline. I laugh at that. Again, that’s one of the reasons why we’re continually progressing because we’re capable of tuning that BS out.
