NFL Investigating George Pickens For Explicit Eye Black; WR Says He Was Unaware Of Rule
George Pickens is apparently unaware of an NFL policy that prohibits players from displaying personal, unapproved messages on their uniforms during games. Now, the NFL is "investigating" the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver after he wore eye black that read "open f*cking always" during Sunday's loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
"It's just eye black," Pickens told reporters.
George Pickens is under fire for displaying an explicit message on his eye black during Sunday's Week 5 match-up.
(Barry Reeger / USA TODAY Sports)
The league is expected to review Pickens' eye black for a potential fine because it violated NFL uniform policy. But the 23-year-old said he's never heard that rule.
"Never seen it before," he told reporters on Thursday. "Have you seen it before?"
That's when one media member pointed out that his teammate, defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, was fined in 2015 for writing his late father's name on his eye black.
"Years ago?" Pickens responded, dismissively. "When I wasn't in the league? So, nah."
Pickens might be given the benefit of the doubt if he did literally anything to endear himself to the league, the media, teammates or, well, really anyone.
George Pickens Continues To Be A Problem
And not a good one.
Eye black issue aside, Pickens had just three catches for 26 yards and zero touchdowns in Sunday's 20-17 loss. After the final whistle, the former Georgia Bulldog inexplicably reached out, grabbed Jourdan Lewis' face mask and yanked the Cowboys cornerback to the ground. The players then had to be separated by the officials.
It's certainly not the first character issue we've seen from Pickens. Last season, he regularly criticized the Steelers' offense while also showing a remarkable lack of effort on his own part.
This week, Steelers quarterback Justin Fields was asked how he can keep the wide receiver involved and composed moving forward.
"I mean it's tough," Fields said. "You definitely gotta feel for him. He's just passionate about the game like we talked about earlier this year. He knows how great of a player he is ... I try to talk to him on the sideline, keep him up. I think that's the biggest thing, you know, keep him going, and just try to talk to him throughout the whole game and stay in his ear and say, 'We're gonna need you to make a play soon, and when it happens, we're gonna need you'.
"So, the biggest thing is being patient and him waiting for the ball to come his way, because at the end of the day, defenses know that we're trying to get him the ball, so they're gonna game-plan and do what they can to try and stop that."
It's always a good sign when the quarterback has to babysit and walk on eggshells around his grown adult wide receiver.
Justin Fields said he has to make an effort to keep George Pickens calm during games.
(Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
Fields later added that because he has a pre-existing relationship with Pickens as 7-on-7 teammates in high school, he is more comfortable pulling him aside when necessary.
"If I would've just met him this year, I probably wouldn't feel as comfortable saying that to him," Fields said. "But, since our relationship does go all the way back to high school, I think I'm more comfortable talking to him and stuff like that and kind of just trying to keep him calm."
How's that going so far?