Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster says he'll stop his pregame TikTok dances

An order from Gov. Tom Wolf mandated the shutdown of Pennsylvania indoor dance clubs. A chat with Mike Tomlin apparently put an end to JuJu Smith-Schuster’s outdoor dance moves.

Citing regret that Tomlin and his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates are being forced to answer on his behalf for it, Smith-Schuster said he decided to end his pregame TikTok routine.

“For the betterment of myself and my teammates, I’m going to stop dancing on the logos,” Smith-Schuster said in a video conference call with media Wednesday.

@juju

Steelers MNF #fyp video credit : @chase

♬ Adderall (Corvette Corvette) - Popp Hunna

The decision came after a conversation with Tomlin, who on Tuesday dismissed the brouhaha’s effect on the Steelers’ results (they’ve lost three in a row) but did say, “It is about respect.” Players from the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals expressed annoyance with Smith-Schuster’s social media posts of dances from their midfield logos in their stadiums prior to kickoff of games these past two weeks.

Three days after Buffalo safety Jordan Poyer said Smith-Schuster gave his team “a little extra fire” for their Dec. 13 win against the Steelers, Smith-Schuster vowed to keep doing the dances, which typically have been filmed by teammate Chase Claypool and posted on TikTok.

“I’m not going to stop being myself,” Smith-Schuster said last week.

Wednesday, he reluctantly explained why he indeed will stop.

“Honestly, I don’t want to be a distraction to anybody,” Smith-Schuster said. “My team or the other team. It’s just the betterment. … If it’s getting to the point where you’re asking my teammates and coaches, there’s no point.”

Monday night’s loss in Cincinnati was punctuated by Smith-Schuster’s fumble that was forced by Vonn Bell, a Bengals player who’d been critical of Smith-Schuster before the game and played coy about the satisfaction he took in beating him after it.

. @MarkMaddenX — Look, JuJu-gate is not why the #Steelers are losing. Their problems are great, and they are many.https://t.co/GXdmYDSlxF

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) December 23, 2020

As the ruckus subsided Wednesday, Smith-Schuster was supported by his team’s leadership.

Smith-Schuster said he did not intend for the dances to be disrespectful to opponents. Offensive captain Ben Roethlisberger agreed: “If he’s not intending for something to be disrespectful, then it’s probably not.”

Defensive captain Cameron Heyward said “we’ve just got to leave (the controversy) alone.”

“We are only talking about it because we are losing,” Heyward said.

Indeed, Smith-Schuster was making the pregame posts well before the Steelers made it to their 11-0 start to the season. That they lost the past three games ignited the controversy because it gave finally gave (winning) opposing teams ammunition to bring it up.

Prior to open speculation, Smith-Schuster said he was not being paid by TikTok to make the posts.

“It was more an intention of my fans. I’m big on social media, the positive,” he said. “Doing stuff like that, you get the positive and negatives.”

Smith-Schuster emphasized a “positive” of a different kind Wednesday when it was announced he was partnering with Walmart to provide $20,000 in gift cards for more than 200 Pittsburgh-area youth.

“Giving back is bigger than football,” Smith-Schuster said. “I think football does give me the platform to be able to give back and my personality to show who I am.”

Part of that persona is a fun-loving, extroverted individual of the type who would dance publicly and share a video of it to 2.7 million social-media followers.

Not anymore — at least not during the regular season, and not on an opponent’s logo.

“I’d rather you dance over the Super Bowl logo,” Heyward said, “(after winning it) when we’re done.”

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