BIOGRAPHY
JuJu Smith-Schuster was born on November 22nd, 1996 in Long Beach, California. He is a wide receiver in the National Football League.
Smith-Schuster began his career playing in Snoop Youth Football League, where he was coached by icon Snoop Dogg. He would go on to play his prep football at Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, California. At Poly, Smith-Schuster would play on both sides of the ball, playing safety and wide receiver.
Smith-Schuster would go on to play collegiate football at USC. Smith-Schuster earned immediate playing time as a true freshman in 2014. In his first career game, he had four receptions for 123 yards against Fresno State. Against the Washington State Cougars, he had six receptions for 74 yards and three touchdowns. He finished the 2014 season with 54 receptions for 724 yards and five touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2015, Smith-Schuster played 14 games with a career-high of 1,454 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. As a junior in 2016, He played in 13 games with 914 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Smith-Schuster in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. Smith-Schuster is the holder of several NFL records, including being the youngest player ever to reach 2,500 career receiving yards and the first player to have two offensive touchdowns of at least 97 yards. He also holds several Steelers franchise records.
In his 2018 season, Smith-Schuster was voted team MVP by his teammates for the 2018 season, finishing the season with a team-high 111 receptions and 1,426 yards. He also had seven touchdowns on the season, finishing second on the team only to Antonio Brown's 15 touchdown catches. Smith-Schuster made his first career Pro Bowl in 2018 as an alternate, after Brown announced that he would not participate in the game because of an injury. He received an overall grade of 81.8 from Pro Football Focus in 2018, which ranked as the 16th highest grade among all qualifying wide receivers.
Smith-Schuster finished the 2019 season with a career-low of 552 yards and three touchdowns on 42 catches. In 2020 he caught 97 passes for 831 yards and a career-high 9 touchdowns operating mainly out of the slot. In the 2021 season, Smith-Schuster re-signed with the Steelers on a one-year, $8 million contract.
In March of 2022, he signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs.
He scored his first touchdown as a member of the Chiefs on October 16, 2022, in a 20–24 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Smith-Schuster won Super Bowl LVII when the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. Smith-Schuster caught 7 passes for 53 yards in the victory.
Off the field, JuJu is known for his likable personality and good heart. His charitable donations include $10,000 he gave in support of the farmer’s strike in India.
Smith-Schuster signed a three year contract with the New England Patriots in 2023.
Smith-Schuster can also get down on the sticks and is a member of the video game group FaZe Clan.
