George Pickens revealed himself today. He was a guy we had heard about when he came out of Georgia – an extremely talented young man but an immature one – who needed guidance. For most of his rookie season, we saw the athleticism and ability. For most of his sophomore campaign, we’ve seen plenty of the same things but we’ve also seen the immaturity we were warned about.
Pickens held court today with the media and did nothing to make anyone think he had grown up. He blamed his lack of effort in Saturday’s game on one particular play on a fear of getting “rolled up on.” Then he went in on the media… “All the people that’s questioning my effort, they don’t play football, they do what y’all (in the media) do….all that people that got opinions, they’re media, surface guys. None of them play football.”
Apparently one must have had to have played football in order to give effort, compete and ya know, actually try. That comment is an excuse and a lame one at that. I’m really sorry that Pickens has had to deal with an embarrassingly inept offense and below average quarterback play but that’s no excuse to act like a petulant child. Last I checked, football is a TEAM game where all 11 members of the unit on the field are asked to give everything they have in order to achieve success.
Mike Tomlin should sit Pickens down and have him watch Harding University. They won the Division II football title last weekend with terrific defense and a punishing, flexbone offense. Harding threw one pass, that’s right, ONE pass the entire game. And you know who blocked their asses off on every single play? The wide receivers. They didn’t pout because they were getting any targets. They weren’t concerned about “being rolled up on” either. They knew that their effort as blockers was paramount to their team winning. In other words, they played the way a Pittsburgh Steeler is expected to play.
Perhaps Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin need to stop trying to take projects like Pickens and instead look for hard-working guys who may lack some talent but at least offer effort and dependability. I’m optimistic that Pickens can get into the offseason, learn from this season and come back a more mature, team-first type of guy. Realistically though, I think the George Pickens we saw today is exactly who he is.
