Former NFL wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh revealed some key details on why the Pittsburgh Steelers traded George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys earlier this week. It lines up with
previous reports. The Steelers quite simply had enough with Pickens’ antics.
“George Pickens had stepped over and crossed the line a bit too many times and I know people that play with the Steelers. He’d be late for the team plane that would be flying out to away games multiple times. He’d be late to get on the team bus and they had enough of it,” Houshmandzadeh said on the
Up On Game podcast.
“They didn’t want to pay him 30-plus million dollars and these antics are probably just going to get worse because you’re not even making anywhere near that. You’re doing all this now? What you gonna do when you get the money? And so they said. ‘You know what, we’re gonna get rid of [him]. Dallas, he’s your problem,’ but he’s gonna be a really good problem.”
In 2023, Pickens was
fined over $200,000 between the NFL and the Steelers for on- and off-the-field incidents, including reported serial tardiness to team practices and meetings.
In 2024, he received over $80,000 in fines from the NFL for his on-field behavior, including unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct, two fights after the end of a loss, and a profane message on his eye black. He also got into a sideline spat with fans.
Perhaps the most egregious of offenses was that Pickens
arrived late to the team’s Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs, missing pregame warmups despite the fact that he was returning to action from a hamstring injury.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network revealed on the Rich Eisen Show that Pickens was
late for multiple games last season, not just the Chiefs game.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/article/ex-nfl-wr-reveals-why-191143842.html