“Just saying anything for likes!” Steelers WR Diontae Johnson hits back at a fan questioning his performance in team’s loss to the Browns

The wide receiver went off on a fan who criticized his route-running.

“Just saying anything for likes!” Steelers WR Diontae Johnson hits back at a fan questioning his performance in team’s loss to the Browns

Diontae Johnson (Via Open Source/X)

The NFL has different types of fans. One particular category of fans is those who may have played football up until a certain level in their life but pretend to use this minimal knowledge that they possess to judge and find flaws in the game of professional NFL athletes. The latest NFL wideout to be subjected to criticism is Diontae Johnson of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The wideout was criticized by one Mike Frazer, who happens to identify as an NFL Film/Draft/Cap analyst. The analyst broke down a 3rd and 4 play on the Steelers’ offensive drive wherein Kenny Pickett was looking for Johnson on their offensive drive.

The analyst criticized Johnson for over-running on the route and for not stopping earlier, which would have led to him catching Pickett’s pass in a timely fashion.

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The analyst dubbed this incident as “first of many miscommunications” that took place between Johnson and Pickett in the team’s game against the Cleveland Browns. He went as far as to say that the read that Johnson failed to see was “an elementary read” and that the wideout failed to “see it correctly.”

Diontae Johnson lashed out at the analyst for spewing misinformation for likes

Johnson came across this post on ‘X’ and quickly cleared things up. He said, 

Ran the route I was suppose to sir.

He dismissed the notion that there was any form of miscommunication on that play and that he ran further than he should have. He further called the analyst out for chasing social media clout.

Just saying anything for likes smh.
Diontae Johnson (1)
Diontae Johnson (Via Open Source/X)

This clearly angered Johnson off that this fan and self-proclaimed analyst was portraying him in a bad light and he did respond to it. While it is normal for fans to know aspects of the game and even some plays that are common offensive plays, remember that they are not likely to have the full picture. In the NFL, plays can be tweaked by teams to improve them or to catch the defense off-guard.

Unless one is a reputed route-running coach or a former wideout, it would not be fair to critique the route-running of another athlete. The supposed miscommunication in this sense was a mere interpretation of the analyst and he said it as he saw it.

Those were his opinions, and Diontae Johnson clearly disagreed with them. Johnson has had 26 receptions on 335 yards this season with one touchdown. The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

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