JuJu Smith-Schuster's return to the Steelers had a lot to do with the environment he knew in the locker room.
That much was certain after his interview with Michael Irvin on PodcastOne Thursday, when Smith-Schuster opened up about how his teammates supported him even while he was criticized for his TikTok dances while the team lost five of its last six games of the season, including being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Browns.
"They were all supportive of it," Smith-Schuster said of his teammates' backing his dancing. "Vinny (Vince Williams), Cam Heyward, they all said, 'keep dancing, that's you bro. Don't change for nobody.' I would understand if I was dancing, dropping balls and dropping touchdowns and messing up my assignment, that would be a different story. But I'm dancing, having fun, doing my job, making my blocks, catching balls, scoring touchdowns and living my best life. It's a team thing, but I don't want to be the head of attention in a bad way so I had to do what was right."
Smith-Schuster is right about his statistics as he finished with the ninth-most receptions and tenth-most receiving touchdowns in the NFL, as well as the eighth-highest receiving percentage of any player who was targeted at least 162 times. He also credits his social media efforts and marketing earned him around $2 million, as well as being featured in a Super Bowl commercial, and that other NFL players ask him how they can do the same.
But still, Smith-Schuster stopped dancing TikTok dancing on opponents' logos before games after the team's December loss to the Bengals.
"Media, they try to find headlines and that's how they make their money," Smith-Schuster said. "But at the end of the day, I told coach (Mike) Tomlin I didn't want to be a distraction for my team. At the end of the day I got myself on an NFL Super Bowl commercial and making as much money as I can. It's just about how people want to look at it. If the media wants to portray it one way, but my teammates know how I am and that I do right by the coaches and the team."
Smith-Schuster's teammates and coaches played a big role in his decision to return to the Steelers instead of joining other AFC teams like the Ravens and Chiefs, who Smith-Schuster said made considerable efforts to recruit him during free agency.
"Being in an environment when the team knows you, how you are and how to use you, (helped). Coming back and knowing that I would have Ben (Roethlisberger) back for one more year, I figured I would take my chance and play with him."
"Baltimore and KC are great teams, no doubt," Smith-Schuster continued. "Tee Martin was my receivers coach at USC who's now at the Ravens and he reached out. Then Lamar (Jackson) reached out, the head coach called and Marlon Humphrey was hitting me up with DMs. It started getting serious when the players were calling and saying, 'come win.' All respect to them, but for me it was staying home and staying loyal. We have a new OC, Ben's coming back, and my relationship with my receivers coach, Ike Hilliard is amazing. You can't beat that."
@TeamJuJu Dang bro you couldn’t respond to my dm?? you didn’t even let me give my recruiting pitch to come to the other side😂 congrats on the resign always a good battle with you ✊
— Marlon Humphrey (@marlon_humphrey) March 19, 2021
Despite the Ravens' efforts, it was the campaigning of the Chiefs that made them Smith-Schuster's second choice behind the Steelers.
"Just seeing KC, with Andy Reid calling me," Smith-Schuster said when asked why the Chiefs were his second choice. "He was sending me Lombardi Trophy pictures constantly. He had some good talks, so it would've been KC after the Steelers."
But it was the conversations with Smith-Schuster's quarterback that meant the most, and ultimately helped him come to grips with a decision.
"He called me multiple times," Smith-Schuster said of Roethlisberger. "We exchanged texts and he said, 'whatever you do, before you sign, call me, let me know.' So multiple times I would talk to him and tell him what best options for me were. We weighed the pros and cons of both sides. Obviously being home with the Steelers was the best."
Smith-Schuster also opened up about how he doesn't have a relationship with former teammate Antonio Brown, who worked his way out of Pittsburgh via trade after Smith-Schuster was voted team MVP in 2019.
“Honestly bro, if I could reach out I would, but I can’t," Smith-Schuster said when asked if he has tried to patch up things with Brown. "He’s blocked me on all social media from Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… my phone number. And we just live our lives. I wish nothing but the best for him to go out there and win a Super Bowl, congrats to him and, he keeps doing it. I think he’s one of the best to ever do it, and if he didn’t have the falloff, I think our team would be amazing with him, Le’Veon (Bell), all those guys who were here.”