Early in the Sunday Night Football matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, NBC cameras caught Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens with a rather interesting message written across his eye black.
That message? “Open Fucking Always.”
That caused quite the stir and was only exacerbated after Pickens had just three receptions for 26 yards, had his snaps reduced, had a key third-down drop in which the ball when right through his hands, and had a dust-up with Cowboys corner Jourdan Lewis after the final whistle, yanking him to the turf by his facemask.
In the days since, Pickens has been a hot topic, especially after declining interview requests after the game and then not making himself available to the media Monday in an open locker room. On Thursday, Pickens spoke.
“It’s just eye black,” Pickens said of the message on his eye black against the Cowboys, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Asked if he expected the type of blowback he’s received in the days since the message went viral, Pickens simply said, “Nah.”
That message on his eye black violated the NFL’s uniform policy. According to the NFL’s Accountability: Fines & Appeals, Pickens is in line for a $11,255 fine for Personal Messages, according to operations.nfl.com.
That is something Pickens said he wasn’t aware of.
“Never seen it before. Have you seen it before?” Pickens said to a reporter, who recalled Cam Heyward was fined for an eye-black message for his father back in 2015, according to video via Pryor.
“Years ago? Yeah, when I wasn’t in the league. So, nah,” Pickens said of the policy.
It’s understandable that he might not have known the league’s uniform policy. It’s one that has a lot of layers to it. But he’s a third-year pro and needs to know what he can and can’t do. It’s not like in college where Alabama star receiver Ryan Williams had “kill everybody” on his eye black against Georgia and proceeded to have a monster game.
In the NFL, there are rules. Regardless of Pickens not being in the league when Heyward was fined, it’s his responsibility to know what can and can’t be done. He’s going to have to pay for it.
As far as downplaying the message and being surprised by the blowback, the self-awareness isn’t all that great here from Pickens. Sure, it’s just eye black and three words, but for a guy who is constantly under the microscope, he needs to be better at not painting a target on his back — or on his face, for that matter.
This was his own doing. He might not be thrilled with the blowback and the attention from the media, but he created this with his decisions. It’s not just eye black, either. It’s a continuation of issues that the young receiver has had since entering the league from a behavior and maturity aspect.
