George Pickens’ maturity issues date back to his rookie season, when he was just 21 years old. Through it all, the Pittsburgh Steelers—and specifically Mike Tomlin—largely stood by him. Now that he’s been traded, it begs the question: was this the result of a series of small incidents piling up, or did one final moment push them into action?
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo believes it was the tardiness issues that ultimately pushed Tomlin over the edge on wanting Pickens off the roster.
“I think Mike’s always gonna have his players’ backs publicly, but you have the stuff early in the season that we reported about [Pickens] showing up late for work repeatedly,” Fittipaldo said Friday via 93.7 The Fan’s Pomp and Joe Show. “Then you have it happen the day of a game on Christmas Day. I think that sort of stuff weighs on a coach, and I think that’s an issue for him coaching other players in that locker room.”
It’s one thing when a player is showing up late for meetings when the team is winning. The Steelers got off to an 8-2 start last season. Winning can cover up a lot of issues.
Being late is not a good look regardless of the record, especially as one of the longest-tenured players on the offense. But the team’s perception of that tardiness probably became a bigger frustration when the Steelers started losing at the end of the season.
That Chiefs game that Pickens reportedly showed up late for came after back-to-back losses as the AFC North division crown slipped out of the team’s control.
“Everybody else is all-in trying to help a team get to the playoffs and winning in the playoffs and you have this guy who’s not really engaged with the process. And tons of other things that took place over the last couple years,” Fittipaldo said. “I would tend to think that the tardiness and especially being tardy for a game and a game of that importance is probably something that maybe put him over the edge.”
The P-G’s Gerry Dulac reported there was a litany of violations throughout the years with Pickens. Tomlin not only signed off on the Pickens trade, but he was the major driving force behind it happening.
Tomlin has clearly been patient with big personalities in the past and willing to deal with a certain level of chaos. But failing to show up to a game (and various meetings) on time was a bridge too far for him.
