Oct. 24, 2017. The day the most horrific tragedy took place in all of sports, or even in life in general. A young bicycle was taken from his home and sold on the street.
Pittsburgh rookie receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster’s bike was stolen from his home near the Steelers’ facilities. Smith-Schuster does not have a driver’s license, and therefore, he bikes everywhere.
“Man, someone stole my bike,” Smith-Schuster said in a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “I ain’t got a bike no more. I’m walking toward practice. This is crazy.”
Smith-Schuster, who said that his bike was locked, quickly tried to find a way to get to the Steelers’ facility on time.
Smith-Schuster said the first thing that he thought of was that he was going to miss rookie meetings and get fined. So, he texted teammates and fellow rookie teammate, cornerback Brian Allen who was able to pick him up.
And for NFL players, this is scarier than anything that happens in any horror film.
So, who was the one who stole the bike? *Insert “The X-Files” theme here.*
This came after teammate Martavis Bryant said he wanted a trade and that JuJu was not better than him.
JuJu said he didn’t take the statement personally and then the next day he has no bike. Is this a coincidence? Let us ask Mr. Bernie Kropp from “The Incredibles” what he thinks: “Coincidence, I think not!”
While the media was asking Bryant questions, James Harrison yelled (in a joking matter), “He stole JuJu’s bike! Ask him where JuJu’s bike is!”
Another suspect in the matter is Le’Veon Bell. Look at last week’s celebration. Bell just took JuJu’s bike so that he could get away from JuJu while they were playing hide-n-seek.
Teammate Antonio Brown tweeted that he has two tickets to a Steelers’ home game to whoever returns JuJu’s bike.
The next day the bike was found in Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania. A man bought the bike from a guy on the street earlier that day for $200. The bike is worth near $800. JuJu felt like that his bike was being disrespected for being sold for the price it was claimed to be for.
We caught up to the stolen bike to hear what they have to say. He simply put that he was scared and that he thought he would never see JuJu again. The bike also said JuJu is the only person that he has ever gone on rides with and felt safe with him, and now to have someone “just take me and sell me on the street like I’m some sort of material and possession made me scared for my life.”
I can only imagine the look on JuJu’s face and the emotion from the two of them when they were reunited. Like two loved ones, either being significant others or family members, reuniting at the end of a horror film, as this was like a horror film but in real life.
Hopefully, Brown keeps his promise and gave the man who returned the bike two tickets for a home game. I think to celebrate the return of the bike, next time JuJu scores a touchdown, the whole team, including Ben Roethlisberger, should celebrate with him in the end zone. They all can act like they are riding bikes together. That would be a sight I would pay a JuJu game check equivalent amount of money to see.
Smith-Schuster went and got his learner’s permit on Tuesday and has been working with teammate Alejandro Villanueva on his driving. Villanueva said “he needs a little bit of work with parallel parking” before he can get his license.
“Honestly, it was my only mode of transportation,” he said. “I think it was God trying to tell me, ‘You need to get your license now.'”
Smith-Schuster hopes to get his license before the winter months come. For the time being, he is planning on putting a tracking device on it.