‘He’s not as crazy as he seems’

OXNARD, Calif. — It’s just two days into training camp and the praise for George Pickens is getting larger by the minute.

The Cowboys wide receiver enters the 2025 season seeking peace and quiet from the noise that surrounded him in three seasons with the Steelers.

Pickens wants to make a connection with his teammates, whether it’s playing the video game Call of Duty on Twitch with backup quarterback Joe Milton, coming up with a post-touchdown celebration with receiver CeeDee Lamb or bonding with quarterback Dak Prescott during the annual skill-position retreat.

That combustible force that Pickens became in Pittsburgh is still there, but he doesn’t want people to believe it’s how he acts off the field.

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“He’s not as crazy as he seems to be, literally,” Lamb said after Wednesday’s feisty practice featuring a skirmish that didn’t include Pickens. “I’ve seen what y’all seen on film. Trust me, I know what it looks like. If you talk to this man and have a decent conversation, I guarantee you will understand this man is kind-hearted. When we get on the field, it’s a different beast. I expect him to be an animal. But we have an on-and-off button, everybody on this field does, on any field, honestly.”

The film shows Pickens has been fined for a variety of offenses. There was an illegal blindside block; waving bye-bye to Bengals defenders as he ran into the end zone; flinging former Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis to the ground by his facemask; dropping a ball on a defender’s belly after a first down reception; wearing eye black with writing that contained an explicit message; and fighting with Browns corner Greg Newsome II at the end of a Hail Mary throw.

And there’s more.

“I definitely don’t want to go on the field and try to be a princess and anything,” he said. “I definitely want to try and play football. So yeah, and then off the field I’m a different person. I can’t be a football player all the time.”

Maybe the trade to Dallas this offseason was something he needed.

“I think I needed a fresh start,” Pickens said. “In terms of people not knowing me, I think that’s the whole thing about it.”

The bonding on the field seems prevalent after two days of practices, with Prescott is connecting to Lamb and Pickens in different ways.

Dallas Cowboys wide receivers George Pickens (3) and CeeDee Lamb (88) tried out their new touchdown dance following Ceedee’s big catch during a training camp practice in Oxnard, California, July 23, 2025.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

“I like us versus anybody, honestly,” Lamb said. “Versus anyone, any [wide receiver] room. I don’t care what they be saying in the media. I see it. I ignore it. We’ll see ya in September.”

The expectations are so high for both men that they’re working on celebrations. After Lamb made a nice catch and run in practice, he flexed and was quickly joined by Pickens. The two conducted a hand grenade celebration, made famous by Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant.

Of course, there would be an expected fine for the hand grenade gesture if conducted in a game.

“I’ll pay the fine,” Lamb said.

All the on-the-field antics from Pickens shouldn’t discredit the type of person he is. He’s quickly bonded with several players, including Milton, whom Pickens tried to convince to attend Georgia while the quarterback was there on a high school recruiting trip.

Milton went to Tennessee instead, but they kept in touch.

And outside of football, there’s video games. When Milton purchased a Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card that uses eight fans, Pickens was wowed by the hardware. The technology is needed when the two play Call of Duty War Zone.

It’s gotten so intense that coach Brian Schottenheimer has watched them play.

“I mean, like, here’s a guy that we get from Pittsburgh that they say is trouble and all those things,” Schottenheimer said. “And like, from the time he’s been here, he’s been incredible.”

Said Milton: “He’s a cool, genuine, humble person. He really cares about family. He really cares about his teammates, his brothers. Whatever it may be. At the same time, he just truly loves football and a lot of people see that and when you pull up his highlights, you watch his game tape, he will crash out and he’ll do this and that.”

On the field, Pickens has averaged 1,006 yards with 16.3 yards per catch and 12 touchdowns. Pickens has produced these numbers while catching passes from Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.

Now he has Prescott, a quarterback more established in the West Coast offense than Wilson and Fields were in the offenses they ran last season in Pittsburgh.

The Cowboys are expecting big production from Pickens and Lamb.

“But at the end of the day, GP I’m glad he’s here,” Lamb said. “He knows that I love him the most. I tell him every day I’m happy for him. I hope we grow together for X amount of years I don’t care, I just know we’re not going to do this for one [year].”

X: @calvinwatkins

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