J.J. Watt pokes fun at Steelers' fondness for TikTok

Jul. 1—One of the NFL's biggest stars seems to believe the Pittsburgh Steelers have a TikTok problem.

A message posted to the verified Twitter account of three-time league defensive player of the year J.J. Watt responded to a message posted by Steelers linebacker Devin Bush on Thursday when Bush had some ... unkind things to say about individuals who use the TikTok social-media platform.

"If you a grown man & you got TikTok on yo phone stay (the heck) from around me," Bush's tweet read.

Watt responded, addressing Bush by saying "you're gonna need to build your own locker room over there bro..."

The implication, of course, is that many or all Steelers players have TikTok.

While Watt of course did not elaborate this in his 12-word tweet, extrapolating it further the obvious reference is to JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Steelers receiver who last season created a brouhaha in league circles over his pregame TikTok dance videos that took place on the midfield logo.

Some players on Steelers opponents took exception to the practice, one that Smith-Schuster initially said he would continue doing. But after an upset loss in Cincinnati in which Bengals safety Vonn Bell made it clear he took joy in forcing a Smith-Schuster fumble following the pregame dance, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told Smith-Schuster to cut the TikTok.

This isn't the first time this offseason that a player seemed to take a shot at Smith-Schuster, be it with malice or just all in good fun.

During his introductory video conference after he signed with the Baltimore Ravens, former Steelers tackle Alejandro Villanueva answered a question about playing for a run-heavy team in part by saying: "I'm assuming it's not as much fun for the receivers," he said, "because they're not getting all of the catches, they're making the Tik Toks and they're having fun on their social media."

Watt, of course, is the older brother of Steelers star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who joined the Steelers as part of the same 2017 draft class with Smith-Schuster.

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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris by email at cadamski@triblive.com or via Twitter .