Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster has one regret about his comments regarding the Cleveland Browns — that he didn’t make money off of them.
Juju Smith-Schuster took plenty of criticism for his comments about their AFC North rivals. He made the remarks during a media interview heading into the two teams’ Wild Card playoff game.
“The Browns is the Browns.”
The infamous line would go on to serve as a rallying cry for the Browns. The words spread to Browns players and throughout the city of Cleveland in an instant. Before long, it became a motto for the Browns leading up to the playoff game. It also became a social media trend with the number of tweets it received during playoff week.
The Browns were ultimately motivated enough to win. They defeated the Steelers 48-37, knocking them out of the playoffs. Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield even made note of the comments after the game.
Juju Smith-Schuster appeared on Fox Sports Radio with Doug Gottlieb to discuss his comments prior to the game. “I said what I said,” he uttered. “I’m not gonna change it back.”
The Steelers wideout doesn’t seem to mind what was said. In fact, he wishes he would have thought it out more before giving Cleveland a viral quote.
“They’ve got a billboard now in Cleveland, just because of me. I should’ve trademarked it then — could’ve got some money off of it,” he said.
Juju Smith-Schuster ‘Promoting His Brand’
This, of course, isn’t the first time that Juju Smith-Schuster has been gotten some negative attention for his antics. He was criticized during the 2020 season for dancing on opposing teams’ logos in order to make videos for social media.
There’s no doubt that the 24-year-old is very conscious of business matters and promoting his brand. However, many fans have become frustrated with the wide receiver, and some question and his dedication to the game and to the team.
“That was just off the top of my head,” Juju Smith-Schuster said of his comments. “It wasn’t something I was thinking about. When he first asked me the question, like, ‘oh, what do you think about the Browns this week,’ I was like, well, we just played against the Brown, the Browns are the Browns, we play against them twice a year. I’ve been in the NFL for four years and we’ve played against this team so many times, it’s just like, okay, the Browns are the Browns.”
In the meantime, the Browns are positioning themselves to be one of the top teams in the AFC North going forward. And more so, they are making a case to be one of the top teams in the entire conference. On the other hand, Juju Smith-Schuster and Pittsburgh appear to be heading in the opposite direction.
