FRISCO, Texas – Have these little, short wineglasses at home, sort of reminding of the ones my grandfather used to drink his daily, and meaning daily, red wine from that he insisted enabled him to live to 94 years of age.
Mine, though, have this line around the glass like halfway down. Above the line reads "optimista." Below the line is "pessimista."
Can judge Cowboys new wide receiver George Pickens' first impression after being traded from Pittsburgh along with a 2026 sixth-round draft pick to the Cowboys for a 2025 third and fifth in one of those two ways.
Some may judge his 12-minute conference call with local media members as encouraging. While there wasn't a whole lot of substance with his short answers, Pickens said all the right things.
Then those skeptical others might have judged his guarded answers as shallow, his past overshadowing their assessments.
The impression he made on me was this:
Pickens must be a good listener.
The fourth-year receiver with a history of being somewhat recalcitrant at times had met with Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer out here at The Star earlier on Thursday, prior to his conference call down the hall from me in the public relations office and before then heading upstairs to meet with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones afterward.
Knowing Jerry, he probably expressed the joy of bringing Pickens to Dallas, very welcoming. But also knowing Jerry, he likely pointed out the great opportunity Pickens has to play with the Cowboys, to play with such a talented quarterback as Dak Prescott and alongside Pro Bowl receiver CeeDee Lamb, along with a Pro Bowl tight end Jake Ferguson.
Jerry probably also pointed out that Pickens, in the final year of his four-year rookie contract he signed as a second-round draft choice with the Steelers in 2022, has a great opportunity to showcase himself to the Cowboys in case they have a mind to issue him an extension if this season goes well, or at least to the rest of the NFL if he can take an impressive season into free agency next year.
And don't put it past Jerry to also emphasize no behavioral "monkey business" when coming to his conduct.
But back to listening.
One huge vibe we have picked up from Schottenheimer is the emphasis he puts on team culture. How seemingly his first priority with the veterans and certainly with the rookies is harping on this family concept. See the team strength and conditioning session opening with a crawfish boil. Or the pizza ovens that were going to be passed around to the rookies.
And remember Schottenheimer expressing this when asked about the importance of the pre-draft Dallas Day and national 30 visits with the draft eligible players out here at The Star: The interviews, that getting to know the players, who they are, where they come from, all about their families and testing their love of football. In fact, during one of his press conferences, he brought up his teenage daughter, saying if she is seriously dating a guy, he wants to know everything about him if potentially being added to "his family."
So can only imagine what Schotty had to say to Pickens, probably not belaboring his past at times immature behavior but making a point of how he wants this explosive receiver to fit into the "culture" of this team he's trying to develop, and to mimic his father Carl Pickens' two-time Pro Bowl career that produced four seasons with at least 71 catches and a high of 100 in 1996 with the Bengals.
Being a teammate. Being a leader since aside from Lamb in this receiver room is relatively inexperienced.
Get this: Six times during this 12-minute conference call, Pickens repeated the term "winning culture." Six now. That's once every two minutes. Can't imagine Schottenheimer didn't make an impression on this 24-year-old who, remember, won a Nattie playing for Georgia in the 2021 season national championship win over Alabama, having played just four regular season games that year after tearing his ACL earlier in the schedule.
If nothing else, no matter his past, Pickens listened. Here is a sample:
When asked about having to "rehabilitate" the perception people might have of him since Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin repeatedly talked about how he needed to "grow up," Pickens said, "I can't really change anyone's opinion, me personally. I just continue to grow. I feel like everybody in the world has to grow. You get older and older as you grow. I'm just trying to build a winning culture, which they already have at the Cowboys. I'm just glad to be joining."
And then this after a convoluted question laced with if he's excited to be playing alongside Lamb but what happens if the ball doesn't come his way enough:
"Oh yeah, it excites me a lot because in the game of football we can work off each other. No, oh, he gets the ball, I get the ball. We're working off each other. That's why I always come back to building a winning culture. And that's what we've been talking about in Dallas."
Notice he already said "we." He had been here all of one day.
The Cowboys paid a relatively high price to acquire Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick, having given up a 2026 third and 2027 fifth for a guy on the final year of his contract, but offset that with a salary cap hit of just $3.6 million. And who knows, if Pickens balls out, pricing the Cowboys out of being able to afford a huge cap hit extension, well, they likely could at least receive a fourth and possibly a third back in a 2026 compensatory draft pick.
Also look at it this way. Dak will be the best quarterback he's played with after three years in the NFL. Lamb will be the best wide receiver he's teamed with in the NFL.
Sure rather have a 24-year-old receiver the head coach possibly must behaviorally monitor, and who knows, maybe more easily once realizing he is wanted around here, or that Dak must massage his temperament, than signing a thirty-something veteran receiver to a contract valuing up to three times as much. Maybe even more. Hey, there is a possible future of more than one year. Who knows.
But sure like what I heard during those 12 minutes. Such as this when asked about what he might have learned during his three years with the Steelers:
"I can't really say that. I'm more of like where I'm at right now, where my feet are at, so can't even really think about it in the past. I'm just glad to be a Cowboy."
Hmmm, let's drink to that.
