JuJu is right to stop silly logo dances

Joe Haden’s right. The reliably collapsing Steelers have way bigger problems than JuJu Smith-Schuster dancing on opponent’s logos.

One would be a secondary that allowed several Bengals behind it Monday night. Good for them that Ryan Finley couldn’t take full advantage because he can’t … well, he can’t throw.

Another would be a compromised run defense that made Finley look like Michael Vick (that untouched, 23-yard touchdown run shall live in infamy, somewhere behind Terelle Pryor’s untouched, 93yard scamper but not many others in the category called “Ridiculous Quarterback Touchdown Runs Allowed by Steelers” ).

The biggest problem would be a broken offense that features a quarterback aging faster than Steve Carell in

“Evan Almighty,” a line that is truly offensive and a group of receivers that leads the NFL in drops.

That group still includes JuJu, although you wouldn’t know it by some of his paltry game totals, including 15 yards on three catches Monday. He went for more yards backward, on that monster hit from Vonn Bell, than he did forward.

Once a power guy, JuJu is now a singles hitter. The proof is in his cringeworthy yardsper-catch average. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth mentioning again, because it’s still true: JuJu has fallen below the dreaded Hines Line.

Explainer: Hines Ward — who belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — could barely walk in his final season (2011) and after recording double digits in yards-per-catch all his career saw the number shrink to 176th in the NFL that season, at an almost unfathomable 8.3.

JuJu’s at 8.2.

That is barely half his rookie-year figure, which he followed with 12.8 and 13.1 the next two seasons. Maybe the Steelers could make better use of a guy with two 97-yard touchdowns to his credit, or maybe JuJu really has become a singles hitter at age 24 (and maybe the logo dancing was a way to get some extra cardio in).

So yes, the Steelers have actual football issues, and not just a few. But Haden was wrong in letting JuJu off the hook with that Tuesday tweet, which in part read like this: “My dawg @TeamJuJu dancing is the LEAST of our problems!”

First, be sure the Steelers would take great exception if somebody danced or stomped or spiked a football on their logo. Silly or not, that’s the way athletes roll. Disrespect, perceived and real, is everywhere.

Just a few weeks ago, the Ravens and Titans almost had a pregame brawl over the Titans stomping on the Ravens logo.

Much as I like Haden, I deferred to the great Rod Woodson on this matter (before the Steelers finally jarred JuJu to his senses Wednesday).

Woodson, on “The Rich Eisen Show,” referred to the logo as “sacred ground.” He also believes a JuJu-like display could give a team “added motivation to play even harder.” I’m not sure about that, but it could absolutely spark a pregame altercation — it was headed that way — which could impact the game in the form of penalties or ejections.

Basically, it was unnecessary, disrespectful and selfish.

And massively embarrassing.

How did you feel, as a Steelers fan, watching “Monday Night Football” with 12.7 million others when ESPN ran rapid-fire clips of JuJu spiking the ball on the Bengals logo and JuJu getting lit up like a Christmas tree?

Make ya proud? Someday, maybe, JuJu will be embarrassed by this. I sure hope so. The guy has too much going for him. He plays hard. He helps all kinds of people. He has a big heart. It’s a shame somebody in that room — notably Ben Roethlisberger or Maurkice Pouncey — didn’t pull him aside earlier to tell him how foolish this looked.

It’s absurd that Mike Tomlin had to answer questions about a player dissing opponents in order to boost his TikTok profile, which in turn boosted his bank account.

There is nothing wrong, obviously, with using social media to enhance your brand. It isn’t new that professional athletes want as much money and fame as possible.

But why use the other team’s logo?

It’s equally absurd that Tomlin had to say, like a parent, “I do plan to talk to JuJu.” Apparently, that happened. “I think it’s getting to the point where my teammates are being asked this question,” JuJu said Wednesday afternoon. “My coach is being asked this question. … So, for the betterment of myself and my teammates, I’m going to stop dancing on the logos.”

Like Tomlin said, it’s about respect. You don’t intentionally show up an opponent before a game, especially when you’re averaging 8.2 yards per catch.

The Steelers have enough problems.