John Sherman Smith-Schuster (né Smith; born November 22, 1996) is an American professional football wide receiver. He played college football for the USC Trojans, earning second-team All-American honors in 2015. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft. With the Kansas City Chiefs, he won Super Bowl LVII.
Smith-Schuster is the holder of several NFL records, including being the youngest player 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. Off the field, he is also known for his social media presence and affinity for TikTok, which has earned him the nickname TikTok Boy. In 2019, Smith-Schuster was ranked by Sports Business Daily as one of the NFL's most marketable players.
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Early life
Smith-Schuster began playing football at the age of eight. He changed his name in football program listings in 2012 from "John" to "JuJu," a nickname an aunt gave him when he was young, and legally changed his last name from "Smith" to "Smith-Schuster" while in college as a tribute to his step-father. In his youth, Smith-Schuster was coached by Snoop Dogg when he played youth football with the Snoop Youth Football League, where Snoop gave Smith-Schuster the nickname "Sportscenter," telling him that he believed one day his highlights would be shown on the flagship ESPN show.
He later attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California, the high school that at that time had the record for sending the most football players to careers in the NFL out of any in the United States. He played wide receiver and safety for the school's Jackrabbits football team. Smith-Schuster was rated by Rivals.com as a five-star recruit and was ranked as the second-best wide receiver in his class and the 24th-best player overall. He initially decided to attend Oregon, but then announced he would attend the University of Southern California (USC) to play college football under then-head coach Steve Sarkisian during his televised commitment.
College career
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 in the 52–13 victory. Against the Washington State Cougars, he had six receptions for 74 yards and three touchdowns in the 44–17 victory. He finished the 2014 season with 54 receptions for 724 yards and five touchdowns.
In the Trojans' second game of the 2015 season, Smith-Schuster had ten receptions for 192 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Idaho. He followed that up with eight receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Stanford in the next game. As a sophomore in 2015, he played in 14 games and led the team with 89 receptions for 1,454 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
On October 1, 2016, Smith-Schuster had seven receptions for 123 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Arizona State. Two weeks later, in a win over Arizona, he had nine receptions for 132 yards and three touchdowns. As a junior in 2016 the Trojans used Smith-Schuster less. He played in 13 games with 914 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
That year he also helped the Trojans to a victory in the Rose Bowl over the Penn State Nittany Lions, catching seven passes for 133 yards and a receiving touchdown over the course of the game.
After the 2016 season, Smith-Schuster announced on Twitter that he had decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2017 NFL draft, before signing with sports agency Roc Nation. Fellow USC alum Lynn Swann said of Smith-Schuster's pro-potential based upon his college career, "He's got the size. He's got the strength. He's got the attitude ... In Juju, you've got a guy who's got the kind of versatility you might be looking for." Though he left before graduation, Smith-Schuster later returned to take summer courses at USC in order to work towards finishing his university degree.
Professional career
Pre-draft
Smith-Schuster received an invitation to the NFL Combine and performed nearly all of the combine drills and positional drills except for the three-cone drill and short shuttle. He opted to attend USC's Pro Day and performed the short shuttle and three-cone drill. In addition, he performed the vertical and broad jump and improved his combine number on both. The Dallas Cowboys were the only team to hold a private workout with Smith-Schuster and showed heavy interest in him. He was ranked as the fourth best wide receiver in the draft by Sports Illustrated and ESPN, and ninth by NFLDraftScout.com and draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Smith-Schuster in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2017 NFL draft. He was the youngest player selected in the 2017 Draft and was the 13th USC wide receiver drafted in the last 15 years. On May 17, 2017, the Steelers signed him to a four-year, $4.19 million contract with $1.84 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.19 million.
Smith-Schuster entered training camp competing with Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Eli Rogers, Marcus Tucker, and Justin Hunter to be the Steelers' third option at wide receiver on their depth chart. He was named the sixth wide receiver on the Steelers' depth chart to begin the regular season behind Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Heyward-Bey, Rogers, and Hunter.
Smith-Schuster made his NFL debut in the Steelers' season-opening victory over the Cleveland Browns and was credited with his first career start as a kick returner, returning one kick for four yards. When Smith-Schuster made his debut, he was the youngest player in the NFL. In Week 2, Smith-Schuster recorded his first career reception and caught his first career touchdown on a four-yard pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, as the Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 26–9. During the Vikings game, Smith-Schuster became the youngest NFL player to score a touchdown since running back Andy Livingston in 1964. He also became the second-youngest player in NFL history to catch a touchdown behind Arnie Herber, who was 60 days younger than Smith-Schuster when he caught a touchdown in 1930.
During Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith-Schuster caught his third touchdown pass of the season, a 31-yard reception, becoming the first player in NFL history to score three touchdowns before the age of 21. On October 29, Smith-Schuster made his first career start at wide receiver and had a breakout performance with a season-high seven receptions for 193 receiving yards and scored a 97-yard touchdown during a 20–15 victory against the Detroit Lions. The 97-yard touchdown reception was also the longest pass play in team history and the longest touchdown reception in the league during the 2017 season. Smith-Schuster started at wide receiver in place of Martavis Bryant, who was benched by head coach Mike Tomlin after publicly asking for a trade. His 193 yards was second only to Jimmy Orr's 205 in 1958 for the most receiving yards by a Steelers rookie and the most by any NFL rookie since Mike Evans' 209 in Week 11 of 2014. He was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his Week 8 performance.
Kansas City Chiefs (first stint)
Smith-Schuster signed with the Chiefs on March 20, 2022. The contract was for one year worth a maximum of $10.75 million. He scored his first touchdown as a member of the Chiefs on October 16, 2022, in a 20–24 loss to the Bills. In the following game against the 49ers, he had seven receptions for 124 receiving yards and a touchdown in the 44–23 victory. He finished the 2022 season with 78 receptions for 933 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.
In the 38–35 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, Smith-Schuster caught seven passes for 53 yards. With 1:54 remaining and the game tied 35–35, Smith-Schuster was involved in a pivotal play where he was held by Eagles cornerback James Bradberry on third down. The holding call resulted in a first down for the Chiefs, allowing them to run down the clock before scoring the game-winning field goal.
New England Patriots
On March 17, 2023, Smith-Schuster signed a three-year, $33 million contract with the Patriots. In his first season in New England, Smith-Schuster finished the season with 29 catches for 260 yards and one touchdown through 11 games and seven starts.
On August 9, 2024, the Patriots parted ways with Smith-Schuster after one season.
Kansas City Chiefs (second stint)
On August 26, 2024, the Chiefs signed Smith-Schuster to a one-year deal, reuniting him with the team he played for in 2022. Against the New Orleans Saints in Week 5, Smith-Schuster amassed the most receiving yards in his career since the 2020–21 playoffs, finishing with 130 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions as the Chiefs won 26–13. He finished the 2024 season with 18 receptions for 231 yards and two touchdowns. He had two receptions for 16 yards in the 40–22 loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
On March 15, 2025, Smith-Schuster re-signed with the Chiefs on a one-year contract. Immediately following the Week 6 win over the Detroit Lions, Smith-Schuster attempted to shake hands with safety Brian Branch, who proceeded to punch Smith-Schuster in the face and subsequently began a brief brawl between the two teams. He finished the 2025 season with 33 receptions for 345 yards and one touchdown.
New York Giants
On June 2, 2026, Smith-Schuster signed with the New York Giants. Smith-Schuster reunited with Matt Nagy, his former offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was released by the Giants following the signing of Najee Harris on August 18.
Career statistics
Career highlights
Awards and honors
NFL
Super Bowl champion (LVII)
Pro Bowl (2018)
PFWA All-Rookie Team (2017)
2× Polynesian Professional Football Player of the Year (2017, 2018)
Ranked No. 47 in the Top 100 Players of 2019
College
Second-team All-American (2015)
First-team All-Pac-12 (2015)
2× Second-team All-Pac-12 (2014, 2016)
Records
First player in NFL history to score five touchdowns before his 21st birthday
Youngest player to record at least 150 receiving yards in a single game
Youngest player to reach 1,500 receiving yards
Youngest rookie wide receiver to score a TD since AFL–NFL merger
Longest touchdown reception in franchise history (97 yards)
Fewest games needed to reach 1,500 career receiving yards (21)
Personal life
Smith-Schuster is of African-American and Samoan descent and was raised in Long Beach, California. He is the second-eldest of seven children and is a Christian. His cousin, Johnny Nansen, was formerly an assistant coach at USC. Smith-Schuster's nickname "JuJu" came from his aunt when he was a few months old. She initially called him "John-John" before opting to call him "JuJu" instead. He has one biological sister named So'omalo and their father was not active in their lives. His stepfather, Lawrence Schuster, was introduced to his mother, Sammy (Toa) when Smith-Schuster was four years old. Smith-Schuster legally hyphenated his last name after he turned 18, adding Schuster in honor of his stepfather. Smith-Schuster states he grew up a fan of USC and looked up to wide receivers Marqise Lee, Robert Woods, and Nelson Agholor.
Digital media
Smith-Schuster has built a widely-viewed presence on many social media, including TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch.
Smith-Schuster has used Twitch to stream himself playing games including Fortnite and Call of Duty: WWII. In 2018 he participated in Ninja's record-breaking Fortnite stream including Drake and Travis Scott. While injured during the 2019 season, Smith-Schuster participated in a live Thursday Night Football stream with TimTheTatman, for which he was paid $100,000.
In February 2018, Smith-Schuster announced a partnership with the popular gaming group FaZe Clan to sell merchandise. He now has a YouTube channel using his full name that posts Call of Duty, Fortnite Battle Royale, and daily life videos that often feature his French Bulldog Boujee.
In October 2020, Smith-Schuster announced that he would own a new esports team called Team Diverge. The team intends to include content from other athletes and musicians and would establish its own gaming house after the 2020 NFL season ended.