First Call: JuJu Smith-Schuster’s food trash talk; Terry Bradshaw still hates ‘dumb’ tag; ex-Steeler pans Super Bowl XLV play calling
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In Wednesday’s “First Call,” former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster takes Super Bowl trash talk to a whole new level.
We tap into some old emotions from Steelers Super Bowls gone by with Terry Bradshaw and Max Starks.
There’s an update on Myles Garrett’s Pro Bowl injury. And we have Pittsburgh ties to LeBron James setting the NBA’s all-time scoring record.
Throwing down the gauntlet
Well, JuJu Smith-Schuster has really done it this time!
Forget “the Browns is the Browns.” Forget logo dances. The former Steelers wide receiver has kicked the hornets nest in the most direct way, at the most tenuous time.
As his Kansas City Chiefs are preparing to play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Sunday, Smith-Schuster took a shot at … wait for it … Philly cheesesteaks.
“The best Philly cheesesteaks are not in Philly, to be honest,” he said.
JuJu with fighting words in Philly pic.twitter.com/MwrEyF5htv
— PFF (@PFF) February 7, 2023
When asked where the best ones are, he responded “definitely not Philly.”
I mean, we saw what happened when Smith-Schuster pranced all over the logos in Buffalo and Cincinnati during the 2020 season. The Steelers lost to both the Bills and the Bengals.
But at least he was smart enough to avoid dissing Buffalo wings or Skyline Chili. Imagine the wrath that would’ve reigned down upon him from those two fan bases then?
I noticed the point spread on BetRivers dropped from Eagles minus-2 to Eagles minus-1.5. I have to assume it’s because of JuJu’s cheesesteaks trash talk, no?
By the way, Smith-Schuster can hit a major contract incentive on Sunday. According to ProFootballtalk.com, if the Chiefs win and Smith-Schuster plays at least 50% of their offensive snaps, he gets another $1 million. Then he can import cheesesteaks to Kansas City from wherever he wants.
Burden for Bradshaw
Former Steeler Terry Bradshaw admits he is still carrying around some resentment about the public perception that he’s “dumb,” a description he’s been tagged with since his playing days.
During a recent interview on HBO Max’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” the Hall of Fame quarterback was asked about Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson’s infamous pre-Super Bowl “he couldn’t spell ‘cat’ if he was spotted the ‘C’ and the T’” quote.
Wallace asked the 74-year-old if the quote “got under his skin.”
Chris Wallace asks Terry Bradshaw to reflect on the perception that he's "dumb" pic.twitter.com/3FbUDWgGzJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 6, 2023
“Yeah, absolutely. The dumb image, I have yet to figure out,” Bradshaw admitted. “My rookie interception record initially was broken by Peyton Manning, considered one of the smartest quarterbacks. I threw 25. He threw 28. So I am upset. I do get upset by the dumb image. I don’t like it being brought up. And I think probably some of my anger and frustration with it is I didn’t get enough support. I didn’t get enough support from Pittsburgh. I thought (Steelers head coach) Chuck Noll could’ve stepped in and said, ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I have heard of.’ After all, I called in my own plays. You can’t be too stupid and call in your own plays.”
All that said, Bradshaw does acknowledge that he has fed the beast in that regard. Bradshaw has unabashedly played the goofy, dingy, country-bumpkin character over the years on television and in movies for decades.
“I’ve taken that image and had some fun with it.” Bradshaw told Wallace. “I like to have fun in interviews. I like to entertain people. If it’s at my expense, I’m fine with it. But there are times, even at Fox, when it’s ‘Terry’s always the goofball.’ I don’t say anything — but I do say to myself, enough, you know, enough.”
Bradshaw may not be as dumb as he is portrayed. But if he is so uncomfortable with the image, he’s also never been clever enough to strike a balance between playing it up and having it consume his persona.
Bradshaw concluded the interview by essentially saying he understands why things are the way they are.
“It’s the bed that’s made, and I made it. I lie in it. And I’m fine with it, and we move on,” Bradshaw said. “But being honest with you, does it bother me? Yes.”
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Since we’re on the topic
Speaking of holding onto some old feelings from Super Bowls from days of yore, check out some of these quotes from Max Starks.
The former Steelers offensive tackle was on 93.7 The Fan on Tuesday. When the subject of the Super Bowl XLV loss to the Green Bay Packers came up, Starks alleged that some personal agendas may have been served during play calling that may have hurt the Steelers.
“I think we were trying to make sure that guys had opportunities for bigger trophies at the end. I’ll just leave it at that,” Starks said.
While Starks didn’t specifically mention quarterback Ben Roethlisberger by name or the MVP trophy directly, it’s tough to assume he was talking about anything else, especially when you take into account the context of what else he had to say.
“If you feel good about it, and you know who your superstar is, you try to put the ball in his hands and make him successful. The problem was, (Green Bay) wasn’t the right opponent. I think if it was anybody else but the Packers that came out of the NFC that year, yes. But the Packers (had) the No. 1 secondary in the league,” Starks said of the Steelers’ pass-heavy approach.
The Steelers did throw 40 passes that day. That’s despite averaging 5.5 yards per rush on 23 carries. But then again, the Steelers were playing catch up all day, down 14-0 and 21-3.
“We abandoned the run game, which is what we needed in that game to win because (Packers nose tackle) B.J. Raji was an open door,” Starks said. “He was a swinging gate. And we should’ve ran it a lot more, especially between the tackles. We didn’t do that. We tried to pass our way into it. Throwing against the best secondary in the league is not the best way to get at it.”
Rashard Mendenhall’s fumble at the beginning of the fourth quarter is remembered as the big play that halted a potential Steelers comeback. But Starks said it was a perfect hit by Clay Matthews. Instead, Starks focused on Roethlisberger’s two interceptions.
“If you take one less pick away from that game, we’re talking about seven-time Super Bowl Champions instead of just six-time.”
Starks, now a sideline reporter on the Steelers Radio Network, didn’t dress that day. He was injured and only played in seven games during the 2010 season.
Brown not down
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett will not need surgery on the toe he injured during the Pro Bowl games on Sunday. That’s via the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Garrett suffered a dislocated toe during the festivities. But according to Rapoport, the toe popped back into place, and Garrett should recover in short order.
Garrett expressed a similar sentiment of his own on Twitter.
Me reading the Pro Bowl script
Appreciate everyone checking in, we are all good over here. Go Browns pic.twitter.com/VQRnCD3Y8C
— Myles Garrett (@Flash_Garrett) February 7, 2023
Garret finished 2022 with 16 sacks. That was the highest total in the AFC and tied for second (with Philadelphia’s Haason Reddick) behind only Nick Bosa (18.5) of the San Francisco 49ers in the entire NFL.
King James is the scoring king
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is now the all-time leading scorer in NBA history.
James hit a jump shot late in the third quarter during a 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. That gave him 38,388 points for his career, passing Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for first place atop the NBA’s all-time points list.
38,388 POINTS
LeBron James hits the fadeaway jumper to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer! #ScoringKing pic.twitter.com/P5LyTZAZn3
— NBA (@NBA) February 8, 2023
An incredible moment between two of the all-time greats.#ScoringKing pic.twitter.com/q29c6PN8ND
— NBA (@NBA) February 8, 2023
James ended up with 38 points on the night.
James’ high school coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Keith Dambrot, is now the head coach at Duquesne. Dambrot could win his 500th game as a college coach Wednesday night when the Dukes host George Mason at the UPMC Copper Fieldhouse.
“Oh, I’d be happy,” Dambrot said Tuesday when asked about those two storylines potentially connecting. “It’s just funny how it is. How life works. Two people. Relatively connected like that.”
Duquesne assistant Dru Joyce III was in Los Angeles for the moment. He was James’ high school teammate and also played under Dambrot. He’s planning to be back on Duquesne’s campus in time for the game Wednesday night.