The weekly pregame logo dancing ritual of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster might not be a big deal to some, but it sounds like head coach Mike Tomlin is not turning as big of a blind eye to it as he has previously.
On the heels of the Steelers Monday night road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, which followed Smith-Schuster once again doing his infamous TikTok dance on the opposition’s midfield logo, Tomlin was asked Tuesday if he plans on talking to the wide receiver this week about his actions.
“I am aware of it and I do plan to talk to Juju, but we’re professionals,” Tomlin said. “I doubt any of those antics and things of that nature are legitimate motivating factors as you step into professional stadium, but it’s about respect and so we’ll have a conversation. But I understand that it’s about the quality of play inside the white lines and so I’m not seeking comfort or looking for excuses based on our recent performances on things that occur in pregame or things of that nature that are social media related.”
Smith-Schuster has maintained that his pregame TikTok dances are a reflection of who he is and that he has no plans of stopping them. That said, it’s obvious now that other teams take offense to his team logo dancing. It’s bad optics overall and I think that is probably the point Tomlin will try to make to Smith-Schuster when the two have their conversation this week.
The Steelers next play at home on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts so Smith-Schuster can dance on the Heinz Field midfield logo all he wants during pregame warmups. The team’s Week 17 game, however, is on the road against the Cleveland Browns so we have several weeks to wait to see the outcome of Tomlin’s conversation with Smith-Schuster.
