JuJu Smith-Schuster has ‘no hard feelings’ toward Antonio Brown

With former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown employing something of a scorched earth policy towards players like Ben Roethlisberger and JuJu Smith-Schuster following his trade to the Oakland Raiders, it would be understandable if there was a degree of lingering resentment for some of names that remain. But while might be the case for certain sections of the locker, it would appear that JuJu Smith-Schuster is not one of them.

The young wide receiver was arguably the player most unfairly maligned by AB after the completion of his trade, needlessly taunting Smith-Schuster on social media for his fumble in a game against the New Orleans Saints just because he won the Steelers MVP Award instead of him.

However, when asked about his former teammate by reporters on Wednesday, Smith-Schuster had nothing but positive words to say about Brown.

“I liked him as a role model, and that situation, I didn’t want it to end like that. I have no hard feelings against him. Obviously, if we’re ever in the same room, I’m going to say ‘what’s up’ to him. I think hatred is a huge word to use against somebody. At the end of the day, he is a great player. He comes out every day. He has work ethic. He worked hard. But other than that, nah, I don’t have anything towards him or anything like that”

And it would seem that watching the flamboyant veteran receiver go about his business did at least teach Smith-Schuster some valuable life lessons. As recorded by Hunter Homistek of DK Pittsburgh Sports.

“Yeah, as a young dude, I learned a lot, honestly. It’s just like, you know, I always told myself, I told guys this before, I never want to be like the center of attention of like causing problems or any issues for the organization. I just try to stay positive as much as possible and show everyone the outcome of it. And when stuff like that, you know, goes sideways, you know, I say what I say and then I back out and I leave it how it is.”

Smith-Schuster might even tune into Hard Knocks to see how AB is doing.

“I mean, it is very interesting. Obviously, everybody’s talking about Hard Knocks and the Raiders. Everyone is curious how he’s going to do and how he’s going to perform and I honestly I think he is a great player. I think Derek Carr is a good quarterback. Obviously, we went and played there in Oakland and we saw what he was able to do. So, It will be super excited to see what he does, what the team does and Hard Knocks should be interesting to watch.”

Unlike his former teammate, it would appear that diplomacy is another skill Smith-Schuster has mastered as well.