Several Buffalo Bills players said it upset and inspired them en route to a victory Sunday. But Pittsburgh Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has no plans to stop his new routine of a pregame dance on the midfield logo.
“Yes, we lost, (and) they had a few words to say and it is what is,” Smith-Schuster said Wednesday, “(but) I’m not going to stop doing it.”
“It” is uploading to his TikTok account a dance recorded during pregame stretches. Smith-Schuster said he has done it throughout this season — even during home games — but after Sunday night’s 26-15 loss, multiple Bills players said they took note of Smith-Schuster’s playful pregame moves in their stadium and on their logo.
JuJu on BillsLogoDance-gate and the controversy from the Buffalo players being mad about it.
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 16, 2020
Says he’s not gonna stop doing that pregame on TikTok
(with special appearance by @dlolley_pgh face) pic.twitter.com/jFTvaCyTRi
“I ain’t going to lie, seeing them dancing on our logo pregame and seeing all that, that turns you up a little bit,” Bills cornerback Jordan Poyer told reporters. “It kind of gives you a little second itch to come out and play with some extra fire.”
Also, a video circulated of Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen giving a pregame speech to teammates in which he said, “Let them do all the… talking… on the field.”
It was reminiscent of five weeks earlier in Dallas, when Cowboys defensive tackle Antwaun Woods said he noticed Smith-Schuster’s pregame moves and further ensured he prevented Smith-Schuster from running back to the midfield logo to celebrate a touchdown.
“We have zero-tolerance for that,” Woods said then.
The Cowboys, unlike the Bills, lost to the Steelers.
#Bills safety Jordan Poyer said they noticed #Steelers players (JuJu Smith-Schuster) dancing on their logo before the game and that hyped them up. “That turns you up a little bit. Gets you a second itch to play with some extra fire.”pic.twitter.com/ZLdtxG8fMT
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) December 14, 2020
Smith-Schuster brushed off criticism his dances provide “bulletin-board material.”
“One thing I’ll tell you guys. I’m not going to stop being myself,” Smith-Schuster said during a video conference call with media. “I’m going to be the JuJu I came into me. Authentic. TikTok is a new platform that I’ve used to touch my fans.
“I plan to keep on doing (the dances). I’m just having fun, being myself.”
No Steelers teammates or coaches have publicly expressed frustrations with Smith-Schuster’s on-field social-media antics.
“That is who he is. He’s been that way (in college) at USC,” fellow Steelers receiver James Washington said. “He’s always been that type of guy. (But) when he’s in a game, I feel like his play speaks for himself. As long as he’s having fun, it is what it is.”
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