As he talked, JuJu Smith-Schuster pulled up his sleeve and showed the media gathered around him in the Steelers locker room the two wristbands he was proudly wearing.
A gold one with black writing had the main message Coach Darryl Drake shared with the receivers.
‘Shut out the noise.’
The other, a black wristband with gold writing, was the last quote that Drake shared with the receivers group.
‘Never choose good when great is available.’
Smith-Schuster said he just got them made, and was about to share them with his fellow receivers. It was the latest in a way to honor Drake, a man who meant so much to the group. The team will wear a decal all season with black initials ‘DD’ in a gold circle. Donte Moncrief got hoodies for the receivers with Drakes ‘Shut out the noise’ message on them that they wore for the first time in pregame against the Chiefs last week.
“There are no words,” said Smith-Schuster when asked what Drake meant to him. “That man helped me more so in life off the field than on the field just because he was a great man in every category in life. When he first walked in the room, one of the first quotes he had was ‘Shut out the noise.’ We came into this year and that is what he said.
“He usually said a quote to us every day. This was the last quote he said, ‘Never choose good when great is available.’ That means don’t settle for less, don’t be satisfied with what you have now. When great is out there, go achieve it. He will always be in memory of not just the team, but in my heart and everybody he touched.”
Smith-Schuster knows the last thing Drake would want is for the receivers to not go out and reach for great right now. As hard as it can be at times, he would want them to keep moving forward. And someone who is helping with that is Ray Sherman. Sherman, who joined the college coaching ranks in 1974 and then moved to the NFL in 1988, was the Steelers offensive coordinator in 1998. Now retired, he came to camp this year to observe the offense, and has been working with the receivers, something that has helped during a tough time.
“A guy who has been here,” said Smith-Schuster. “He has coached everybody from Jerry Rice to young guys like us. It’s the best opportunity to have him step up and play that role for us. Also Blaine (Stewart) is doing a great job. It just takes all of us together. We are in this together.
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Originally Posted by FrancoLambert
