By Alex Kurtz, Sports editor
Since being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft, Juju Smith-Schuster has dominated both on and off the field.
The former USC wide receiver put up nearly 1000 yards in his rookie campaign and became a legitimate pairing across from Antonio Brown, arguably the best receiver in the NFL.
His actions on the field, while they did help, are not the sole reason for Smith-Schuster’s success but rather the combination of his play and his stardom on social media.
Smith-Schuster has a strong presence on Instagram and Twitter and even has his own YouTube channel where he has currently amassed over 350 thousand subscribers.
The Steelers receiver also did a collaboration with FaZe Clan for a merchandise line and even became a member of the group where he lives in the sprawling mansion the esports organization owns in Hollywood. While there, he makes videos with the other YouTube stars in the organization.
By doing this collaboration, Smith-Schuster is not only having fun, but he is building his personal brand better than any player currently in the NFL today.
Think about it. He is 21, a receiver in the NFL, and a giant gamer in a house with one of the most well-respected esports organizations in the world today.
While not every sports fan plays video games or visaversa, these two target markets are some of the largest in the world, and Smith-Schuster is hitting both of them in stride.
Using this new-found fame, the Pittsburgh receiver found himself recruiting NBA superstar LeBron James to play on the Steelers.
“I mean he’s a GOAT (greatest of all-time), you know, obviously as a basketball player,” Smith-Schuster said. “But to come to Pittsburgh Steelers and win the Super Bowl, I mean you can say the guy did it all.”
He even found himself on the most-watched Twitch stream of all-time when he joined Drake and Travis Scott on Tyler “Ninja” Blevins’ stream on the videostreaming website.
While he was not able to get King James into the Steel City, he did get to meet up with the superstar after a Cavaliers and Clippers game, which shows you how far a strong social media game can get you in today’s world.
Smith-Schuster’s fame is going to usher in a new age of sports, where personalities off the field are going to become just as important. He has laid the groundwork and now people just need to follow his black and gold trail.
