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JuJu Smith-Schuster had an impressive sophomore season with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018. Nonetheless, since then, he hasn’t had fairly the identical quantity of success, as he did not report 850 receiving yards in every of the final two seasons.
Whereas Smith-Schuster has acquired loads of criticism the previous two years, it hasn’t all been about his play on the sphere. Many followers and gamers haven’t been too keen on what he does on social media. The truth is, Smith-Schuster’s TikTok account obtained him into some bother with opposing groups all through this previous season. Now, Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter has one thing to say about Smith-Schuster’s social media antics.
JuJu Smith-Schuster hasn’t been as profitable the previous two seasons
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JuJu Smith-Schuster was a second-round choose by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2017, and he had two glorious seasons for Pittsburgh to start out his profession. In his rookie season, Smith-Schuster caught 58 passes for 917 yards and 7 touchdowns. He then adopted that up with an unimaginable 2018 season, catching 111 passes for 1,426 yards and 7 touchdowns. He finally earned Pro Bowl honors for his play that yr, too.
Nonetheless, he has not had as a lot success the previous couple of seasons.
Smith-Schuster solely performed in 12 video games in 2019, however he solely caught 42 passes for 552 yards and three touchdowns. His yards-per-game common additionally went from 89.1 in 2018 to 46 per sport in 2019. Then, in 2020, Smith-Schuster caught 97 passes for 831 yards and 9 touchdowns. His TD catches have been a career-high, however his yards-per-game common was nonetheless mediocre, as he averaged 51.9 per outing.
This has led to many individuals questioning if he focuses on social media just a little an excessive amount of.
He has constructed a model on social media
Smith-Schuster has fairly just a few followers on Twitter, as he has reached over 1.1 million. He has additionally change into fairly common on Twitch and TikTok.
Moreover, all through the 2020 season, a part of Smith-Schuster’s pregame routine was dancing on the 50-yard line, after which later posting a video of his dances set to music on TikTok. Doing this on the opposing workforce’s emblem, although, didn’t sit too effectively with the groups he performed.
Earlier than a sport in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals this yr, Bengals security Vonn Bell stated this, in line with Sports Illustrated: “It’s type of disrespectful on the finish of the day. However they’re on prime proper now so you possibly can’t actually say nothing proper now. We simply gotta go on the market, between the traces, go on the market and hit him and let him know the place he stands.”
Bell then laid an enormous hit on Smith-Schuster in the course of the sport, and the Bengals ended up getting the upset win over the Steelers.
A pair days after the sport in opposition to the Bengals, Smith-Schuster stated this, in line with ESPN’s Brooke Pryor: “For me, I used to be dancing once we have been undefeated, I used to be dancing once we misplaced our three video games. I’m not going to vary who I’m. …I noticed it extra as not disrespect, however it’s for my followers on social media.”
It seems that Smith-Schuster will proceed to attempt to develop his model on social media. Cris Carter, although, doesn’t appear to love it.
Cris Carter isn’t a fan of JuJu Smith-Schuster’s antics
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Corridor of Fame extensive receiver Cris Carter appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Jan. 25, and he had some fascinating feedback about Smith-Schuster.
“I had warned folks on TV that I didn’t suppose JuJu Smith-Schuster was the alternative for [Antonio Brown]; I didn’t suppose he had the general extensive receiver potential to have the ability to dominate, though he began off with a spectacular season,” Carter stated. “Then I began to see how a lot he cherished social media, and nothing flawed with social media, however I like to coach my guys — change into an professional at one factor first.”
He continued: “I favor that to be your craft. I favor that to be soccer. Then, we’ll department out, we’ll work in your model and all the pieces, however your model ought to be, ‘I’m rattling good at what I do. They throw the ball within the air; I make magic occur.’ … I don’t imagine in these guys making an attempt to be stars on social media and stuff earlier than they actually perceive what it means to be a professional and dominate the professional sport. So, I’ve by no means actually been a fan of that.”
Social media is nice, and Smith-Schuster has completed an ideal job of connecting along with his followers. Nonetheless, he ought to possibly take heed to Carter in order that his numbers can get again to the place they have been throughout his Professional Bowl season.
Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference
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