JuJu Smith-Schuster’s ‘finger’ another example of Steelers’ big brother complex with Patriots

To the victor, goes the spoils.

New England is once again on the cusp of taking another Super Bowl title back to Foxboro, and 30 other teams have to sit around and watch it go down this Sunday in Minneapolis.

Sadly, the other option is that Philadelphia wins the big game Sunday and we will have to put up with their fans who could be the worst human beings walking the planet.

Unless, of course, you are a Patriots fan.

How anybody can watch this game and root for either team is pure torture.

I, for one, may pass on this game Sunday. Seriously, who can stomach to think of either team winning. I wonder if that was what went through the mind of JuJu Smith-Schuster mid-week when he took a photo with a young kid wearing a New England Patriots jersey.

And gave a subtle middle-finger salute in the process. If you didn’t see it, you can see it below:

I’m not sure where Smith-Schuster was at the time, but he was with a team of video people doing things young people with money do these days, and that’s blast social media with useless video clips to waste time on while at work.

The drop of the bird by Schuster probably played well with Steelers Nation, who never misses a chance to punk out their rivals. But isn’t that what you do when you are always second best to somebody? I guess in this case the Steelers aren’t even 2nd best in the AFC. Jacksonville got the best of them twice. If anybody deserves the middle finger its the Jags who punked the black-and-gold twice at Heinz Field.

But who are we kidding.

The dominance of the Patriots over Pittsburgh the past 16 years is obvious, and it doesn’t take much to understand the psychology behind it all. When you get beat so often by an opponent, one who torments you at every chance encounter either by dominating you on the field, or by rules being enforced due to bad rules and pure fate, you will take any opportunity to take a swipe at them.

And on the 8th day the lord said, flip them the bird.

And Steelers Nation saw that it was good.

Well, not entirely.

The post on Twitter made quite a splash around Pittsburgh sports media, along with the national pundits chirping in. Smith-Schuster is only 21. He had, by all accounts, a very fine rookie season. His play only got better as the year went on. His effort late in the 4th quarter vs. New England was the sole reason the Steelers had a chance at winning that game.

But surviving the ground didn’t happen.

Nor did surviving the Patriots.

But we knew all that didn’t we? And so did Smith-Schuster. Hence the flipping off of the Patriots fan who was the innocent bystander in all this.

And you say the Steelers are not consumed, or obsessed, with the Patriots?

I don’t fault Smith-Schuster for what he did. It’s normal to do this to your tormentor. It’s like waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat over a traumatic experience.

Here’s to Smith-Schuster, and the rest of the Steelers, flipping off New England come Sunday. Win or lose. It’s only natural to think it helps the Steelers as they watch a game they should have been playing in.

Although he’s a secret member of the Galactic Empire sworn to chase down Jedi Scum across the suburban Pittsburgh landscape, John Phillips manages to find time to write opinion columns for BTSC. A task he’s revered since 2014.