Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is known to speak the truth at his weekly news conference.
For example, he said his players were dominated physically Sunday night in Buffalo and that is the truth. We all saw it.
We also all saw the TikTok video of JuJu Smith-Schuster dancing on the Bills logo before the game. The Buffalo players did, too, and after the game they said it fired them up even more that they already were. It was all over social media and all over the TV networks for that matter.
But when The Fan’s Jeff Hathhorn asked Tomlin about it on Tuesday, and if he felt JuJu gave the Bills extra motivation, Tomlin replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about; this is the first I’ve heard of that.”
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Really? I don’t want to accuse Tomlin of an outright lie, but I just can’t believe that. He had to have seen it; it was everywhere. Plus, he has two teenage sons to keep him apprised of what’s on social media.
However, I do believe what Tomlin had to say next. “These guys are professional players, motivated each and every week” Tomlin pointed out. “Knowing the group that coaches that team, (led by his college teammate) Sean McDermott, they were motivated in all the proper ways and (JuJu’s dance) had very little relevance to the way the game was played.”
Certainly, JuJu’s pre-game hijinks didn’t cause Diontae Johnson to drop the ball(s), Ben Roethlisberger to throw two interceptions on poorly thrown passes, or the secondary to forget to cover Stefon Diggs (who is only the league’s leading receiver) in the third quarter.
Smith-Schuster’s videos are about having fun and on the field he an unselfish team player. But, as a so-called “influencer,” he also benefits financially when his TikTok and YouTube vids garner over half a million views so there is a degree of selfishness to that.
Bottom line - giving an opponent even the slightest extra motivation is unnecessary. JuJu should continue having fun – which motivates him – but maybe he would be better served to pick his spots.