When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys on May 7, many fans believed it was in the best interest of the Steelers' organization to remove the diva wide receiver from the locker room and the team. The latest antic from Pickens is the final straw... and one that should have every Pittsburgh fan saying 'good riddance'.
Pickens had committed to hosting the George Pickens Youth Football Camp, put on by TrueEdge Sports. After being traded to the Cowboys, TruEdge's team contacted Pickens' representation to confirm whether he would still honor his commitment to the Pittsburgh event.
According to the email sent to families of youth planning to attend the event, TrueEdge was promptly assured that George remained committed to the camp and intended to show up for the families who had registered. This information was shared with families back on May 9.
But last week, Pickens did the most 'George Pickens' thing imaginable: he backed out of his commitment to host the youth football camp, just days before the camp was set to kick off in Pittsburgh.
George Pickens just gave the Pittsburgh Steelers confirmation that trading him was the right move
Thankfully, there should be a happy ending for the kids involved here. Though George Pickens backed out of hosting his camp in the final hour, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth is reportedly stepping up to host the camp. Thank you, Pat! TrueEdge Sports has also been in contact with 'multiple other Steelers players' and fully intends to build an exciting lineup that delivers value to every family.
Pickens' latest selfish move is his worst one yet. It's one thing to show a lack of effort during a football game or to say all the wrong things to the media. It's another thing entirely to leave a bunch of kids—many of whom committed to camp months ago—high and dry.
To be fair, we haven't gotten Pickens' side of the story. Perhaps there was an emergency or a scheduling conflict that wouldn't allow him to make it to host the camp. But based on the wording by TrueEdge Sports and the messaging sent to families, that doesn't appear to be the case.
This is all the confirmation that the Steelers needed to know they made the right move sending Pickens to Dallas. Now, he's the Cowboys' endless headache to deal with.
The George Pickens Youth Football Camp was scheduled for Saturday, June 28. To allow for time to accommodate all of the changes, TrueEdge Sports has moved the camp to Sunday, July 20. George Pickens' selfishness forced dozens of families to reschedule their summer plans for this event.
If you were still on the fence with the Steelers' decision to trade Pickens, you shouldn't be anymore.