George Pickens is catching flak in Pittsburgh again, even as he’s catching passes from his new quarterback.
The wide receiver, who was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in early May after three volatile seasons with the Steelers, was scheduled to be the star attraction at the George Pickens Youth Football Camp at Pittsburgh’s Highmark Stadium this coming weekend.
Despite previously telling campers that he would still attend the event even after changing teams, Pickens has now decided not to participate at all, according to an email sent to attendees’ families this week.
The camp has been postponed until July 20 and will now feature Pittsburgh tight end Pat Freiermuith and possibly other Steelers players. The organizers are not offering refunds.
Though he has not addressed his cancellation publicly, Pickens is reportedly getting work in with his new Cowboys teammates at the annual retreat organized by quarterback Dak Prescott.
There are two ways to look at this, depending primarily on which of the two fanbases you pledge allegiance to.
For the families of those youth campers, there is obvious frustration. That is reflected loud and clear in the email sent to them by the camp organizers, who explained in breathless detail how Pickens “has decided to walk back on his word” and trashed him repeatedly for his “disappointing lack of accountability” and “disregard for the families and children who were excited to meet him.”
Steelers fans are no doubt chalking it up as just one more reason why they’re better off without the mercurial wideout. Before this, they were merely glad to see him sent packing; now they can feel justified in actively despising him forever.
But the cold, hard truth is this: Pickens is heading into a massively important contract year, not to mention his first campaign with Prescott and the Cowboys as a featured component of head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s new-look offense. Skipping the so-called “Dak Pack Summit”- for any reason- only costs him valuable reps and a chance to gel with his new quarterback and teammates before the stakes get very high, starting in Week 1.
Pickens may well have intended to keep his camp commitment when he first told families two days following his trade, but his schedule, understandably, changed once he got situated with his new employer. Canceling on kids at your previous stop and on families who have paid money is unfortunate, but the 24-year-old has a new team and a new city now… not to mention a new chance at earning a life-changing second NFL contract.
Steelers Nation may be mad. But how would the Cowboys and their fans view it if news broke that Pickens bailed on offseason work with the entire Dallas offense to fly back to Pittsburgh just to sign some autographs and collect an appearance check?
Returning to Pittsburgh would have made for a nice footnote to the time Pickens spent there; a schedule conflict brought on by his new job shouldn’t immediately cast him as some sort of villain.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Pickens picks Prescott over promise to Pittsburgh kids: Cowboys WR cancels camp for new QB
Reporting by Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
