During his time in Pittsburgh and even after the trade, there was much debate about how Kenny Pickett excited the city and the team in general. This was not the typical amicable separation from each side. However, Pickett’s trainer, Tony Racioppi, told NJ Advance that he felt many of the narratives pushed in Pittsburgh were ‘BS’.
“I would say the majority of those narratives were pushed by people. And they are 100 percent BS …,” Racioppi told NJ Advance Media. “I would put his leadership ability against anybody out there.” I will always believe in that kid. He has it. He has it physically. He has it mentally. He’s tough. He’s smart. There’s this work ethic to him. He has the talent and abilities. He has what you want. So much of that league is (the) right place, right time (and) wrong place, wrong time. There’s so many cases that point to that.”
Regardless of how that played out, Kenny Pickett did fall short during the team’s games over the last two years, so they decided to bring in someone like Russell Wilson for competition. Mike Florio hit back at Racioppi’s comments, stating that Pickett did not need much help looking bad in the first place.
“How do I put this as gently as possible. Did the Steelers need to make him look bad? Did he (Pickett) need any help to look bad?”He did nothing special,” Florio said on 93.7 the Fan. “And it had to be bad for the Steelers to admit failure of a first-round pick at the quarterback position and throw him overboard after two years. I don’t think he needs any help as it relates to narratives that make him look bad. He made himself look bad in the two years he had to show he could be an NFL quarterback at a high level.”
It’s blunt but not totally out of bounds. Pickett seems happy with the Eagles, the team he grew up rooting for, and the team close to home. The Steelers have an entirely new quarterback room that they hope will look different from what it has been in past seasons. They rely on Wilson to regain form or Justin Fields to take the next step he could not take in Chicago. But after the last few years, it seems like the risk the team was willing to take. But it does nothing but guarantee they have the quarterback position solved for the future.