“Those ‘same old Browns,’ those ‘nameless, gray faces’ beat you to a pulp, JuJu, you classless jerk, so goodbye. “From beloved to an object of scorn”

You reap what you sow

… “For Smith-Schuster, a pending free agent, this is a lose-lose situation.”

How can an NFL player go from being beloved to being a pariah? Just ask JuJu Smith Schuster, who knows full well how it happens. 

In fact, Schuster is now so toxic that the Steelers, who are in a terrible salary-cap position, will have to let him enter free agency. 

How did the Steeler wideout become such a despised person?

Tik-Tok.

A big mouth. 

A lack of respect.

Inability to put his performance where his mouth is. 

The bottom line for the Pittsburgh Steelers after their humiliating loss to the Cleveland Browns in their first playoff game is this,

Same old Steelers, one and done.

Hugh Conrad, Still crazy after all these years

I only write that because of what Schuster said prior to the game with the Browns, making fun of them for their previous ineptitude. No player with any class does that, even if he thinks it. 

The infamous, classless words

Here is what he said,

“I think they're still the same Browns I play every year,” Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said Wednesday, winking at the camera. “I think they're nameless, gray faces. Yes, they have a couple good players on their team, but at the end of the day — I don't know, the Browns is the Browns. AFC North football, they're a good team, but I’m just happy we’re playing them again this Sunday.”

Brian Batko, “'They're still the same Browns': Steelers get yet another chance 

to crush Cleveland's dream,” Post-Gazette, January 9, 2021

Those nameless, gray faces are moving on to face the Kansas City Chiefs, the defending Super Bowl champions. 

Those woeful, hapless Steelers, who have not won a playoff game in five years, none since Schuster joined the team, are going home to watch on TV.

The insults came from across the nation. 

“Spite can be a powerful tool”

In a story prior to the game, Sports Illustrated wrote that it is crazy to insult a team before a playoff game, even if you think that they are inferior to you,

There will never be a better time to insult an opponent ahead of a game than when they are missing half a dozen players, several coaches and have been unable to practice all week due to an ongoing pandemic, so Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster did not want to miss his opportunity.

“I think they’re still the same Browns teams I play every year,” the Steelers receiver said Wednesday. I think they’re nameless gray faces. They have a couple good players on their team, but at the end of the day, I don’t know. The Browns is the Browns” …

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It's the playoffs, so the Cleveland Browns shouldn't need any added motivation to play their best effort, but the situation is unique. While head coach Kevin Stefanski, himself out of the game with COVID-19, has been unwavering in his message to the team about the focus and their goals, it wouldn't be a surprise if individual players had moments of weakness where they think the situation is unfair or perhaps unwinnable.

Pete Smith, “Juju Sideshow: Schuster Unable to Contain Contempt, Insults 

Team With Nothing To Lose,” Sports Illustrated, January 8, 2021

You would also think that a Southern Cal guy would at least speak with correct grammar. 

SI’s Smith then hammered him,

Spite can be a powerful tool and it's possible the quote could give some of these players the necessary motivation to do everything they can to prove a point, regardless of the outcome.

For Smith-Schuster, a pending free agent, this is a lose-lose situation. If the Steelers win, they defeated a compromised Browns team as expected. He looks like a dismissive bully. If the Steelers lose to a team missing this many players and coaches, it will be humiliating for the Steelers and almost all of it will land directly on Smith Schuster.

Pete Smith, SI January 8, 2021

Yep, insulting a team with nothing to lose is just plain stupid. 

And, as I wrote this morning, with all of the salary cap problems the Steelers will face, ESPN is pointing out that they are very unlikely to sign JuJu to a long-term contract. 

How did he go from beloved to a subject of scorn?

What Smith is pointing out in saying that this is a lose-lose situation is that the wideout is now a subject of scorn, after being such a beloved character when he first entered the league. 

In fact, his numbers are going downhill, though better than they were last year. 

For instance, in his first season, Schuster had 58 receptions for 917 yards and seven TDs, an average of 15.8 yards a catch. 

The next year was his best, and he has not even come close to replicating it the past two years. He recorded 111 catches for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns, though Antonio Brown was often double-teamed that year, leaving JuJu open — according to A.B. 

His yardage numbers the last two years, 552 last year and 831 this year, combined do not reach what he accomplished that season. 

His yards per catch numbers were the lowest this year of his career, 8.6 a catch. 

That trend is not exactly what you want to be entering free agency with, so he should be keeping his mouth shut instead of denigrating other teams by stomping on their logos or mouthing off against a team that has been to the playoffs only twice in the past 25 years. 

Smith concludes this way,

Already dubious that he will be back with the Steelers next season, Smith-Schuster almost seems intent on making it easy for fans to move on from him. He has already earned scorn and criticism for dancing on opponents logos, particularly the logo of the Cincinnati Bengals, who defeated the Steelers with Ryan Finley at quarterback.

There's a case to be made that it's in harmless fun from his point of view, but the Bengals certainly didn't take it that way as Vonn Bell did not turn down the opportunity to deck Smith-Schuster during the game. The comments Smith-Schuster [made] were more dismissive than they were inflaming, but it's unlikely the Browns see it that way.

Sunday, the Browns will have their chance to respond.

Pete Smith, SI, January 8, 2021

And respond they did, making fools of the Steelers and Schuster. 

It will likely be his last in the Black and Gold.