Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens should already know by now that the never-ending news cycle has a way of stretching out a story’s lifeline. Sometimes it can even manage that for something that isn’t even a story. For some, Pickens’ postgame comments about the Browns fall under that latter category. But here we are into the next week and people are still talking about it and asking others about it.
Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was the latest to weigh in, and he also didn’t care for Pickens’ remarks. Or at least, he didn’t like a certain part of them. Having owned Cleveland himself during his career, he didn’t mind Pickens saying the Browns are not a good team. Although he thought Pickens could have done more on the final play.
“After the game, I understand that you want to say the Browns aren’t as good as you. That’s fine, you’re welcome to that”, Roethlisberger said of Pickens’ comments on his Footbahlin podcast. “But don’t blame the weather. Let us blame the weather. Let other people do it. It’s just not a good look”.
And here’s the thing about this particular source: Ben Roethlisberger is only a few months removed from being in the same locker room with George Pickens. Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season, and the Steelers drafted Pickens in April. They could have very nearly been teammates, so his comments reflect a collegial point of view.
In other words, you could bet that Roethlisberger would have pulled Pickens aside and talked to him had they been teammates. Players talk about how they beat themselves instead of their opponents beating them all the time. But when you start talking about variables that are outside of your control, that’s different.
And it’s even less compelling an excuse when you’re talking about an element—the literal elements—that affect everybody equally. George Pickens didn’t play in the snow any more than Jerry Jeudy did. And are we forgetting the fact that the Steelers played some of their best football when the snow was heaviest? Did they really lose because of the snow, or did they just lose? Of course they lost; the Browns were better.
With that said, you can probably bet that Steelers beat writers will be angling to ask some of Pickens’ teammates about his snow comments over the next few days. Maybe if they’re lucky, they’ll even get a chance to ask the man himself.
After the Steelers lost to the Browns, multiple reporters claimed that Pickens actually turned down media requests. At some point a short time on, he changed his mind and offered his remarks to a small subset of reporters who stayed behind. I’m not sure why he changed his mind and then felt compelled to blame the weather and the officiating for the loss. But he did, and because he did, people like Ben Roethlisberger are still discussing it. And because people like Ben Roethlisberger are still discussing it, so are we. That’s how the news cycle works. Sometimes it’s annoying.
