To understand Steelers receiver George Pickens, the first thing you have to realize is his unique, outrageous ability to effortlessly pull in acrobatic one-handed catches is as unique as his fun-loving, somewhat silly, somewhat quiet personality.
He is part confident football player, part chill friend who just likes to hang out and doesn’t want attention.
He is part alien, part human meme, part video game enthusiast.
He is No. 14 on the field, a walking highlight film opposing defensive coordinators lose sleep over. But off the field, he is simply ‘GP’ to those who know him best, only losing sleep to all-night video game marathons.
“Everybody loves George,” said fellow receiver Calvin Austin III, who along with tight end Connor Heyward are Pickens closest friends on the team. “People back home always ask me what he’s like. He is normal. He’s chill. People have an image of him as wild and crazy. He is just a chill person.
“On the field, he has a switch that changes. He becomes George Pickens. That is when he becomes that special, unique, different player. He has the mindset he is the best on the field and his play proves it. That switch that comes on when he steps on the field allows him to have that edge about himself.
“But George is extremely humble. The media, TikTok, things like that can create an image of a person that has them thinking one way about them, but they are really not like that. He is a genuine person. A cool
