Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images Taron Johnson of the Buffalo Bills scores a touchdown on an intercepted pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster of the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 13, 2020.
After the Buffalo Bills (10-3) defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2) on Sunday Night Football, Bills safety Jordan Poyer indicated that seeing JuJu Smith-Schuster dance at midfield during pregame warmups provided his team with added motivation.
“… I ain’t going to lie,” said Poyer, who is an eighth-year veteran. “Seeing them [JuJu Smith-Smith Schuster] dancing on our logo pregame and seeing all that, that turns you up a little bit. It kind of gives you a little second itch to come out and play with some extra fire.”
Smith-Schuster posted the video to his TikTok account (@JuJu) prior to the game, and his routine was also highlighted by Sunday Night Football announcers Cris Collingsworth and Mike Tirico, the latter of whom noted that “this has become [Smith-Schuster’s] gig: get to the road stadium, get to the logo—a lil’ TikTok-ready dance moves….”
Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen Offended Too
But the logo dancing seems to get under the skin of opposing teams, and it’s worth noting that it’s not just Buffalo’s defenders who took umbrage at Smith-Schuster’s TikTok video.
Before Buffalo took the field on Sunday night, Bills QB Josh Allen huddled up the offense and said: “The recipe is simple … let them do all the talking and the f***ing dancing and we do all the work.”
The #Bills clearly took the #Steelers dancing on their logo seriously. Josh Allen before the game: “Let them do all the talking and the f****** dancing… we do all the work.”
(via @BuffaloBills)
Never mind that the Steelers were largely in control of the game until Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception on a pass intended for Smith-Schuster late in the first half. Bills cornerback Taron Johnson returned that interception 51 yards for a touchdown, giving Buffalo a momentum-changing 9-7 lead that helped them cruise to a 26-15 victory.
Smith-Schuster’s ‘Dallas Star’ TikTok Video
Still, one can argue that it might be time for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to strongly discourage Smith-Schuster from making TikTok videos of himself dancing on the other team’s logo.
It hasn’t been a topic of conversation of late because coming into Buffalo, Pittsburgh had played three of four games at home, with the only road contest a 27-3 shellacking of a lowly Jacksonville team that was auditioning a rookie sixth-round pick at quarterback.
But Smith-Schuster’s pregame dance was a big issue on November 8th, when the Steelers barely escaped AT&T Stadium with a 24-19 victory over the struggling Cowboys. In fact, it had a direct impact on what transpired on the field after Smith-Schuster scored on a 31-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.
In Smith-Schuster’s pregame TikTok video that day, he hinted he might try to celebrate on the Dallas star if he scored a TD, effectively trying to re-create an infamous Terrell Owens touchdown celebration from 20 years earlier. It’s something that Dallas defenders anticipated and actively worked to prevent.
“I saw a video before the game that had him on the star,” noted Dallas defensive tackle Antwaun Woods, who told the Dallas Morning News: “He’s always doing stuff on TikTok. I knew with him being my college teammate [at USC] that was something he might do. I was going to make sure he didn’t get there. We have zero tolerance for that.”
It should be interesting to see whether Tomlin soon develops “zero tolerance” for further pregame TikTok videos. We’ll find out soon enough, as the Steelers are scheduled to play at Cincinnati on Monday December 21.
Pittsburgh also has one other road game this season, as it is scheduled to close out the regular season at Cleveland on January 3, 2021.
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