Not long after George Pickens expressed an absence of optimism, Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe did the same.
Speaking about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ volatile-but-gifted receiver after his team’s 28-14 AFC Wild Card playoff loss to Baltimore — and his press conference that followed — Saturday night, Sharpe didn’t hold back.
“I’m not optimistic that he’s gonna ever be anything but a pouting diva that doesn’t give effort on every play,” Sharpe said of Pickens on an edition of sports talk show “Nightcap” after the game. “I don’t want it to be one-sided that the players get to tell the truth, but the team and other players don’t get to tell the truth about said player.”
Sharpe was referring to Pickens’ post-game comment saying that he wasn’t optimistic in the direction of the Steelers’ offense.
Sharpe agreed that Pickens shouldn’t be encouraged, but said that it would’ve been wiser to keep that thought to himself. Sometimes part of being a professional, he added later, is biting your tongue.
“I just think the thing is, in that situation, it would’ve showed a lot of growth and a lot of maturity if he had just framed it and said, ‘Oh, yeah, I see … the growth in this offense, and I’m a young player myself. There’s some things I need to do better, but I’m growing right along with it,'” Sharpe said. “All the while, in the back of my mind (thinking), ‘This offense ain’t really for me. It doesn’t showcase what I can do.'”
Does George Pickens have an effort issue?
A showman pass-catcher for Steelers division rival Cincinnati from 2001-10, Sharpe’s co-host, Chad Johnson prefers the honesty. He acknowledged Pickens’ shortcomings — mainly his lack of effort — but defended where Pickens was coming from. Once Pickens was involved in the attack, it was too late, Johnson said.
“The first quarter, he probably walked,” Sharpe said, straight-faced, as Johnson laughed at the remark.
Pickens’ situation is nothing like that of other receivers, Johnson pointed out, such as the Los Angeles Chargers’ Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase, and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson.
“He has the exact same type of talent!” Johnson stressed.
“But he don’t give you the same type of effort,” Sharpe snapped back matter-of-factly. “When he wants to do it. He doesn’t always want to do it. Ja’Marr Chase don’t loaf because they’re throwing the ball to Tee Higgins. Puka Nacua doesn’t loaf because they’re throwing the ball to Cooper Kupp.”
How does the narrative around George Pickens change?
Sharpe brought up another Steelers receiver, who wasn’t known to take a play off and grinned all the while.
“Somebody needs to just get with George, sit down and talk to him, and explain to him, like, ‘George, you make it really hard for fans to put their arms around you when they see you quit on plays,'” Sharpe said. “‘When they see you give a lackadaisical effort. When they see you’re not hustling when you’re not getting the ball.’ … Look, the Steelers are a ‘hard hat and lunch pail’ (sort of team). They want guys to give effort. Hines Ward might be their favorite receiver! Of all of them!”
Sharpe recognized that Pickens, 23, is still young, but reminded that can’t continue to be used as an excuse.
“He has to mature,” Sharpe said. “He has to be an adult. He has to do the right things. … We think a lot of things, but we know we can’t say everything that comes up.”