Steelers wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson didn’t know who George Pickens was the first time he saw him Jan. 1, 2020. He certainly figured things out pretty quickly.
Pickens, then a freshman wide receiver at the University of Georgia, caught 12 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown – tying a single-game school record – as the Bulldogs topped Jackson’s Baylor Bears team, 26-14.
“He went off with like 200 yards receiving,” Jackson said of the Steelers rookie and second-round draft pick. “I’m like, ‘Who is this dude?’ It’s crazy how life works. I end up going and working him out. I found out who he really was.”
Little did Jackson know that a few years later, he would find himself coaching Pickens with the Steelers. But Pickens always knew he was destined for the NFL. It was something for which he trained from the time he was a youngster growing up in Hoover, Ala., located just south of Birmingham.
It was a big dream, but Pickens has always dreamt big.
He was driven to become a star. It’s what he worked and strived for from the time he hit middle school and watched as his older brother, Chris Humes, who spent time with the Raiders and then in the CFL, went through the recruiting process.
“My brother played defense. He wasn’t that tall, but he was physical, and he played like a linebacker, box safety, but he ran like a 4.3, so he played corner and safety,” said Pickens. “His aggressiveness really molded me. We’re 7 years apart, so he would be in high school and I’m in middle school. I’d go against him at home and I’m trying to do my moves and it’s not working. He’s way more physical and strong.
“I was like, ‘Oh, you’ve really got to get to this level.’ Then he started getting recruited and we’re 7 years apart. Now, I’m still in middle school and he’s
