PITTSBURGH — If this were the Steelers-Bengals rivalry of yesteryear, you might expect to see a group wearing tiger stripes waiting for JuJu Smith-Schuster at midfield Monday night. Because the leading receiver in Pittsburgh is going to play football, but first he’s going to dance, and win or lose, he’s not apologizing for it.
Starting early last month at Dallas, Smith-Schuster began a tradition of posting a TikTok video of himself dancing on the opposing team’s logo before road games. He’s since done it on the Steelers logo in the locker room, too, but Sunday night against Buffalo was the first time the other side seemed to notice and take offense. Bills quarterback Josh Allen told his offense while huddled up in the tunnel before the game to “let them do all the talking and all the [expletive] dancing, we’ll do the work.” Safety Jordan Poyer admitted postgame it motivated the Bills defense a bit more than usual, too.
“One thing I’ll tell you guys, I’m not going to stop being myself,” Smith-Schuster said after practice Wednesday. “I’m going to be the JuJu I came in to be: authentic.”
Smith-Schuster added that he uses his social media platforms to reach out to fans “and grow.” He has 2.6 million followers on TikTok, 1.1 million on Twitter and 3.4 million on Instagram, where he often promotes various products and events. The pregame dance is usually done rather early in the warmup process, when kickers and punters are practicing rather than the full teams taking the field.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was asked about it Tuesday and claimed he was unaware it was a topic, for his team or for opponents. He also added that pro football players are plenty motivated to begin with.
“I’m just having fun, doing myself," Smith-Schuster said. "At the end of the day, as long as we go out there and play ... yes, we lost, they had a few words to say, and it is what it is. I’m not going to stop doing it.”
But if you think there’s no limit to Smith-Schuster’s showmanship, he acknowledged that when he scored a touchdown during the Steelers’ comeback attempt at Buffalo, he refrained from any theatrics. It wasn’t the time for him to try to go viral again.
“All I could think about was we need to score, get the ball back and try to score again, try to win the game,” Smith-Schuster said. “Not so much, ‘Let me go ahead and dance.’ When you’re down like that, why dance?”
Perhaps it’s worth noting that Smith-Schuster has been doing good and not just being goofy this season. On Thanksgiving, his foundation provided more than 350 meals for seniors and families in need. Just this week, he partnered with Pay Away The Layaway, a nonprofit through which he paid off $12,500 worth of customer balances at Burlington Coat Factory in Ross Township.
In a year in which the Steelers are at times hard up for offense, Smith-Schuster often shows up with tough grabs and physical runs after catches to convert first downs. He also has the best drop percentage of any Steelers wideout with at least 20 targets, though fellow receiver James Washington didn’t want to say Smith-Schuster has “earned” the right for some hijinks.
“That’s just who he is. He’s been that way at USC. He’s always been that type of guy,” Washington said. “When he’s in the game, I think his play speaks for itself. As long as he’s having fun, it is what it is.”
