The Josh Innes Show - Russell Wilson Defends George Pickens

Episode Date: June 2, 2025

Our pal Rusty Wilson went to bat for his former teammate. He says he's misunderstood. To me, he just seems like an asshole. But, what do I know? This somehow leads to a random rant about social media. How? I don't know. That's the beauty of this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Plus get a no charge, two year maintenance package. Visit your local Mitsubishi dealer today or see Mitsubishimotors.ca for details. Conditions apply. Headline reads Russell Wilson, quote, former Steelers teammate George Pickens is quote Misunderstood I don't know that to be the case I just think these guys are assholes because I think a lot of wide receivers are assholes because that's how they're programmed to be We have this debate at least what once a quarter on this show is Do you have to be a complete mental case to become an elite wide receiver in the NFL or just becoming an elite wide receiver in the NFL turn you into a total mental case. It's one of my favorite discussions that we have on

this podcast, right? There are tons of great receivers who aren't loons, right? Like there are great players. Like I don't think Jamar Chase is a loon, right? But he's got a healthy ego, right? I don't think, you know, just go down the list of guys. There have been great examples of guys. Jerry Rice, of course, being an example. But then there are TOs who are total loons. So maybe these guys are just loons to begin with. But part of it is you play a

position that requires you to be one on one and you have to beat your man one on one. And they're in the same thing with cornerbacks. You hear about cornerbacks being crazy too. There is no more true one-on-one and if you get beat, you're exposed type of position than the wide receiver position like yeah, an offensive lineman could get beaten one-on-one and give up a sack but at the end of the day, the world's not going to care as much about

that and social media is not going to talk as much about that as they're going to talk about wide receiver blazing past a cornerback or a cornerback completely locking up a wide receiver. So I do think like part of becoming in certain instances an elite wide receiver is part of the mental game and it can drive you to fucking insanity. But like the idea that George Pickens is misunderstood, George Pickens just seems like an asshole. But what happens is people who are assholes try to spin their misunderstood angle as like, well, you know, he's just passionate about winning and I'm guessing that's where this

is going with Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson spent just one season playing alongside George Pickens, but it was enough for the veteran quarterback to be impressed by the young wide receiver skill set. Wilson spoke glowingly of Pickens when asked about his former teammate and an appearance on the 7 p.m. in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony podcast. I love George, Wilson said his ability to catch the football is one of a kind. Anything in his vicinity, he's going to catch it. Totally. I get that. He's a great guy to tape. You can get him the ball.

He's a guy that's going to get you like that over 60 something receiving yards every day and you'll hit. And that's how I judge if you're a good receiver or not. Wilson wasn't just complimentary of Pickens receiving tool bag, which also the young wide out, which allowed the young wide out to post a team leading 900 receiving yards and 59 catches with four touchdowns. The veteran quarterback also believes the 24 yearyear-old is

driven to be great even despite on field antics at times draw ire from coach Mike Tomlin and fans alike. Yeah, because that's the problem with these guys is like there's this mental thing and I think social media is bad and good for players at those kind of positions but in this social media era, I think it's worse for wide receivers because like not everybody can break down what happens on the offensive line. Not every random fan can break down a dude getting burned on the offensive line or whatever, but or not everybody knows where a guy was supposed to be on defense.

So no one's going to blow up a safety because he covered the wrong portion of the field, whatever. But every novice believes they can tell you if a wide receiver is beaten on a play or locked up on a play. And I think that kind of shit messes with people's heads. This is the social media world. This is why social media is so bad, so dangerous, and I think it drives people into this level of craziness if you allow it to. Let's play a few commercials actually, and we will continue.

if you allow it to. Let's play a few commercials actually and we will continue. That's just the way of the world, man. And I know social media becomes kind of a topic of conversation on this show a lot, but the more I look at it, the more I read it, the more I see how toxic it is, there's not a ton of benefit for people's mental wellbeing, right?

There's great benefit to making money, creating a character, creating a brand. There are positives to social media. There's no doubt about that. There's likes. It can help drive you, motivate you, and it can build fame where there is no fame. Look at how many people would be nobodies if not for social media, but they created a brand on social media and it's made the money. There's goods and bads to that, but that's good, right? But I think if

you're someone whose main job is not to be a social media person, like if you're not an influencer by trade, if you're not someone who's built a podcast and that revolves around that world, if you're someone who is an actor, if you're someone who's a radio personality, if you're someone who's an athlete, if you're someone who does things that people watch and are entertained by, it can be a massive negative for you to see social media and read

social media. It's not healthy for you, particularly when you're in a volatile spot like that where you're a wide receiver in the NFL and you already have to deal with one on one shit with people like you are in a true one-on-one position. Yes, there are times that they're in zone coverage against you, all that shit. But by and large, if you're an elite wide receiver, you're going to get the best corner on the opposition,

and they're going to go head up. And there's a lot of shit talking, a lot of trash talking, and the internet thinks they know everything about that. And you can look like a fucking clown really quick, and it can fuck with you mentally. And I think that's what starts to happen with guys like George Pickens or guys like, you know, just go down the list of some of these current guys. We're not seeing as many maniacal crazy

wide receivers as we used to. You know, we're not in the era of TO or Ochocinco, who by the way, Ocho Cinco just actually seems like the nicest guy and seems kind of like a level-headed guy now when you see him on social media. Like I think he kind of got a bad rap in his day, but he just seems like a hell of nice guy, like a dude you like to hang with, the guy that seems like a dude, you know, so that's pretty cool.

But like you look at him or you look at Tio or you look at Antonio Brown or you look at some of these guys that are kind of nut bars and you're like, how did you get to this point? I do think social media drives people to a point of a place that they don't want to be like I can I tell you a fear that I live in like, I don't want to live in a world where like, look, I've got thoughts on things and I have a podcast and I'll probably end up with a radio job at some point. And that's all well and good.

And I'd like to be able to tell you the things I think and I want to be able to tell you how I feel about shit and be honest. I hate living in a world where people aren't honest and they just say shit that they think they're supposed to say because otherwise social media will kill them. I hate that we're in a world where you think you're doing something right, yet it can be posted on social media and people will turn it into something wrong and then you get punished for it. Like there's a lot of bad shit. But there are certain things you look at,

like I don't wanna live in a world, this is who I don't wanna be, right? I don't wanna be the guy that because I told you my honest opinions on some things, I end up becoming like this kind of pariah. And then everything you post is kind of under this umbrella that you're a pariah. So you just look like a fucking lunatic. Like, I like our boy nails. I like Lenny Dykstra. I like him. I like

having him on the podcast. And we used to do that. I like Lenny, right? I don't want to be Lenny Dykstra. Like I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be the dude who people look at like, yes, they got a bunch of followers. And yes, a bunch of crazy people like their shit. But at the end of the day, like people that are like sane and level headed people just kind of view you as a jester. Like I don't want to be that person. Like I don't want to be the guy yelling at clouds and the guy that people circle and say, this guy is a kook.

That's the fear of social media, though. Because once the world has decided that you're not mainstream, you kind of become this off-brand thing. Now, you could take it in multiple directions, but that's a fear I have. I don't want to become someone. I've got my thoughts, and I've got my takes,

and I've got my views, and I've got what I believe about shit. I don't want to be the guy that social media and the world has deemed to be crazy old fuck yelling that cloud weirdo that everybody just kind of like looks as a train wreck of a person. That's not what I want to be. That doesn't mean I want to be some slimy corporate weasel that just kind of goes along with shit. Like I'd love to live in a world where we could all tell you what we honestly think of shit,

and then that's it. People agree or they disagree and they move on. The problem is you can't do that because this world is fucked. But once the world's determined that you're a lunatic and that you're just kind of a clown, there really is no coming back. So then if you're going to survive, you just kind of have to full on embrace that role. Like Lenny Dykstra has just kind of full on embraced what he is. I like him. This is not a knock on Lenny. He's my guy. I'd have him on tomorrow. Like I don't

think Lenny's a bad dude. But Lenny's image, who Lenny is and maybe he cares or doesn't care. But like Lenny's the guy who lost his fucking false teeth in the garbage can at Jersey Mikes. And that's funny and we laugh at it. I don't want to be the guy that loses his dentures at Jersey Mike's. Like I like I find Antonio Brown to be funny and CT ESPN is funny and it gets a bunch of likes on social media and I'm sure that that's some piece of currency for him and cracker of the Day and all that. I don't wanna be Cracker of the Day guy. Like that's not who we, like I like being the offbeat guy. Like there's nothing wrong with being Letterman when he was on NBC and kind of being the subversive guy.

Right? What you don't wanna be is the weird fucking kook that people are only liking and laughing because they're either really super stupid or they're, you know, like that's who will accept you basically, right? Or they're making fun of you. Like I like I have nothing against Antonio Brown. I would talk to him too. Like I have nothing against the guy. I don't think he's a

total wacko, but like I wouldn't want but he is kind of a total wacko, but I don't want my image or my brand to be that if I'm in that situation. Like I'd rather be someone who people go to like I don't think Joe Rogan's viewed as a wacko. All the liberal people tried to make it like Joe Rogan's got a cool brand, right? You know, it's kind of weird and they talk about aliens

and they talk about conspiracy theories and whatever. I don't think that the average person looks at Joe Rogan and goes that guy's a fucking lunatic. I just think they look at it as a guy sitting around smoking pot, drinking whiskey, whatever, and talking about conspiracy theories and you know the government's fucking with you here. You don't want to be the Antonio Brown because there's no real growth in what Antonio Brown does

because nobody at the end of the day wants to associate with that. They all want to like it and laugh at it. No one truly wants to associate with that. That is not a sellable commodity to people. And that's kind of the hard part with art and commerce, you know, because you want to do the wacky shit that you enjoy. But on the other hand, you have to be able to sell that to make money. And a lot of times that's dependent upon whether or not people with corporate money are going to do it. At the end of the day, Joe Rogan, as much as the CNN types tried to make him out to be a kook taking Ivermectin, he still got

a huge deal with Spotify and he's still making a fuck ton of money. You're not seeing Antonio Brown ain't getting a huge deal with Spotify and he never will. His money has to come from how many people are essentially going to like and all the weird shit he does on social media. So you want to have a brand and have a brand that's sort of, you know, offbeat and kind of fun, but you also don't want to be the guy that's considered just total wacko.

And that kind of somehow kind of wraps back around what we were talking about with wide receivers. I don't know how or how it got to that point. I know that was kind of down a weird rabbit hole there and kind of an off path there. But like it's the same way with receivers, you know, like you don't want to be the person that's only known as being a wacko because that can only take you so far. There has to be some sort of substance and a substance that mainstream people want to consume or something that coaches want to consume. Like, George Pickens hasn't hit a point yet because obviously look at him. He's gotten traded. He's made moves, whatever. But like, George Pickens hasn't hit a point yet because obviously look at him. He's gotten traded.

He's made moves whatever but like George Pickens hasn't hit that point where people are like, yeah, you're talented, but you're too much of a fucking whacko and we just don't want to deal with it. He hasn't hit that point yet. You know guys like Antonio Brown did eventually hit that point guys like TO. I mean TO hung around for a long time but guys like that at some point did hit that point. He hasn't yet, but I understand that was kind of all over the place and rambling and kind of like

often different tangents, I'm aware of that, but like that's just, it's just a weird world. I don't know what to tell you. The world's a strange place.