George Pickens compared the practices he experienced at the University of Georgia far more favorably than what he goes through now in the NFL with the reeling Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wide receiver George Pickens says practices were harder for him in college at the University of Georgia than what he has experienced professionally up to this point.
As people fall to pieces over his practice comparison comments, he did play for a national championship-winning team as a junior and a program that sent one player after another to the NFL, especially at the cornerback position. Although he should be going up against comparable competition, the Steelers are a 3-7 team. It is not as strange as it sounds for Pickens to say this.
Most former college stars do not have grounds to say this, but Pickens did go up against the best.
George Pickens says Georgia practices were harder than Pittsburgh Steelers’
Although the Steelers are a model organization in the NFL, they are having their worst season in years. Coincidentally, this is Pickens’ first season in Pittsburgh. Frankly, this is the worst year the Steelers have had since Pickens has been able to form memories. If he went to a team with serious Super Bowl aspirations, this comment may not have had all that much discernible value.
Regardless of how good or bad the Steelers have been this year, Pickens is not the first former college star to say something along these lines and will not be the last. Surely, a former star wide receiver at Alabama could have said the same things coming out of the peak Crimson Tide program under Saban. Players may have said similar things leaving Pete Carroll USC for the NFL.
Ultimately, Pickens’ comments are in line with what you would typically hear coming out of top-tier college programs from time to time. The only difference is the players, former programs and NFL teams change. However, it is truly amazing how a player can go from an elite program to one far less than that by simply entering a draft. No other profession works this way, so this is crazy.
You do not have to agree with Pickens, but for him to say this about the Steelers speaks volumes.
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