JuJu Smith-Schuster has yet to play an official down for his new team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Nonetheless, he can already see himself returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers. At least one day, anyhow.
Back in the Keystone State to host a charity event, Smith-Schuster said as much on Sunday.
"I could see myself back here," Smith-Schuster said Sunday at a Pittsburgh-area charity event, via CBS Pittsburgh’s Garrett Behanna. "Even today, this shows a lot, that I still have fans out here coming out to support me."
Following five seasons with the Steelers, including a 2018 Pro Bowl campaign, Smith-Schuster signed this offseason with the Chiefs on a one-year pact.
Sunday's charity event, which raised money for Paws Across Pittsburgh Animal Rescue, the Miracle League of the South Hills, Vintage and the Magee-Womens Research Institute, allowed Smith-Schuster to return home to say goodbye, essentially.
"It was just very important. It was huge to come back," Smith-Schuster said. "I spent five years here, to come back to the city where I started my career. When you sign and go to a new team, you move so fast, that I literally picked up all my stuff and moved. I didn't have time to say bye to the fans. What we're doing today is really cool."
Taken in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Steelers, Smith-Schuster produced 323 receptions for 3,855 yards and 26 touchdowns in his five seasons in Pittsburgh.
In 2021, he was limited to five games because of a shoulder injury.
Now, Smith-Schuster will be looked upon to fortify a Chiefs wide receiver corps, along with fellow free-agent signee Marquez Valdes-Scantling, that lost Tyreek Hill.
How big a role he plays and if he returns to his prime form remains to be seen on Sundays in the 2022 season. But on this particular June Sunday, Smith-Schuster was back in Pittsburgh and the 25-year-old didn't close the door on a Steel City reunion down the road.
