JuJu Smith-Schuster is one of brightest young stars in the NFL. This isn’t just because of the second-year receiver’s ability to make cornerbacks look silly on the field, but off the field, Smith-Schuster possesses the kind of personality that can make him a face of the league going forward. And yeah, it helps that he’s really, really good: The 22-year-old Steelers standout finished his sophomore campaign with 111 receptions, 1,426 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns.
It was a tumultuous year to say the least in the Steel City — one that ended with the team narrowly missing the playoffs — but Smith-Schuster is a building block for the franchise going forward, even if it’s unclear if that future will include his fellow standout receiver, Antonio Brown. In the meantime, Smith-Schuster is in Atlanta gearing up for the Super Bowl.
He also spent some time in Atlanta playing video games, as he faced off against Chargers running back Melvin Gordon in Madden NFL 19. It didn’t go quite as Smith-Schuster planned — Gordon came out on top, 27-6, and Smith-Schuster summed it up succinctly, saying he “stunk.”
“Melvin’s a good gamer,” Smith-Schuster told Uproxx Sports in the aftermath of the game. “He controlled the clock, ran up the points, played very smart. He pretty much took over the whole game from the first quarter, honestly.”
It was a rough day, but Smith-Schuster didn’t let it get him down. He sat down with us to discuss how Madden helps him become a better player, learning from the best receiver in a league and, of course, gives us a Super Bowl prediction.
Uproxx Sports: How big of a Madden guy are you?
JuJu Smith-Schuster: I’m pretty into video games. I think I got into more Madden now that my stuff is in a game. It’s more interesting now for me. So since I’m in a video game, I play it more and more and just trying to get into it.
Were you like a lot of younger dudes in that you poured hours of time into playing Madden as a kid or is it something that you got into more once you got to the NFL?
I think it’s more and more I got to the NFL, just ’cause, I mean, it’s a game that … I’m in the video game. Yeah, I played it as a kid, but I got more into it now than I did when I was younger.
So everyone has that one Madden story where you’re playing it with a teammate or a friend and things just get way, way, way too heated. Do you have a story like that with a teammate or some other dude that you’ve met in your NFL time?
While playing Madden against somebody?
Yeah.
Not necessarily, I mean it gets heated with teammates more so because everyone competes and they play for money, and it gets really serious. But other than that, there’s not someone I played in Madden who’s exciting to play against.
Who is the best gamer in the Steelers’ locker room and who is the best trash talker?
I think the best gamer in the Steelers’ locker room, ah man, that’s tough. You talking about Madden, Anthony Chickillo, he’s really good. Honestly I would say it’s probably him.
Who’s the best trash talker when you’re all getting on the sticks and playing?
Oh for sure him, all he does is talk trash.
So I know that LeBron James has said in the past that he’ll sometimes play basketball games with the hopes of learning stuff on the court. Does Madden help you at all with anything on the field?
Being able to read a defense, to show coverage in defense and reading safetys and corners. I think that’s helped a lot. Honestly just because you see it on the field or the corner comes down, the corner stays high, if it’s man or zone. I would say pre-read, you pre-read the defense before it actually happens.
Kinda getting into football a bit, you just finished up your second year in the league. If you could go back and tell USC wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster one thing about life in the NFL that might have caught you off guard, what would that thing be?
Every team in the NFL is really, really good and you cannot take for granted who you’re playing against day in, day out.
It’s been a pretty unique year in Pittsburgh and I’m sure you’re tired of being asked about it. How difficult is it to tune out some of the noise that from comes off the field when it’s involving guys that you’ve built up that kind of brotherhood with, both from Monday to Saturday and on game days?
I mean for us it’s … you just got to focus on the main reason why we’re playing football and why we’re in this locker room. We’re really just here trying to win games. With the situations going on with some teammates, those are some things that we can’t control, and at the end of the day, whoever’s in our locker room are the team that’s gonna play in that game. That’s who we’re just gonna have to rock with. At the end of the day, next year, I hope we have both those guys on the roster being ready to play and it’ll literally be an Ultimate Team that we will have.
I want to ask about being teammates with Antonio Brown. As a young wide receiver, what’s it like getting to pick the brain of the best receiver in the league on a daily basis?
Oh for sure, man, I mean, it’s a blessing. When I was in college I DM’d him, and to be on the same field as him and to learn from the best … just some of the things that he does, he comes out to practice still hungry more than ever, and it just shows a lot how hungry he his, how he wants the ball on game day, how I want this ball on game day. Just a lot of little things. I focus on body control too, on the sidelines or in the end zone.
What’s the best piece of advice that he’s given you, whether it’s related to football or related to life?
The best advice that he’s given me, I would say, is just that no matter what, at the end of the day you got to do what’s best for yourself, and anything that’s gonna help out the team.
Let’s talk about this game this weekend a little bit. Both of these teams have really great passing attacks. What is it that makes New England and Los Angeles so tough to slow down through the air?
Well against New England, I mean obviously their offense is … they got Gronk, they got Brady, they got some key players. They’re very disciplined. On the defensive side they play a lot of man, they’re gonna double team the Rams’ best receiver. And the Rams, honestly, they have to put points on the board early. They have to beat the man coverage and take the lead early and keep it that way.
My prediction is I think the Rams are going to come out on top. They’re gonna win by a field goal and Aaron Donald’s gonna be the MVP.
The receivers in this game, for how talented they are, they’re good at just the little details that are so crucial with playing the position. So many receivers are that talented, but how hard is it to find little ways to improve your game with route running, with catching with your hands, those little technique things?
It’s pretty hard, man, it just doesn’t come over night. It’s something that you have to work on constantly. Like I said, day in, day out of just practicing route running, releases, catching the ball, eyes, read defense, these are all things that you have to take into account and that you have to spend days on. And like you said these receivers are not the top of the top, but they’re not the lowest, they do get the job done. Cook, Robert Woods, Julian Edelman, those guys are gonna go out there and play their butts off. I mean and they played in high games like this. The Patriots have been there before. The Rams, their first time in a while that they showed themselves in an appearance in the Super Bowl. But it’s gonna be a fun game to watch.
As someone who played on a team that beat New England this season, what’s the formula that you think the Rams need to follow to win on Sunday? I know you just kind of mentioned this.
The offense got to go off man coverage and keep the Patriots offense off the field.
Earlier this week you took a selfie with a kid in a Tom Brady jersey and put it on Twitter and said “Ewwwww!!! A Patriots fan!!!” Is that a little bit of hint as to what you’re hoping happens this weekend?
Yeah, yeah, definitely want the Rams to win.
