Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf will miss the final two games of the regular season after his suspension for violating league policy in an altercation with a fan in Detroit on Sunday was upheld on appeal.
He now will miss games at Cleveland and against Baltimore in Weeks 17 and 18, respectively.
Metcalf also will forfeit $555,556 for the two games missed. The suspension also voids $45 million in future guaranteed money, according to his contract, which was reviewed by CBS Sports and ESPN.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday he had spoken with Metcalf about the incident but didn’t want to give his opinion on it until after Metcalf’s appeal was ruled upon.
“He did explain to me why he did what he did. And I certainly don’t condone the behavior, but I support DK,” Tomlin said. “And I really don’t have a lot to add other than what I just told you.”
In the first half of Sunday’s game against the Lions, Metcalf was shown on the CBS broadcast talking to a fan — later identified as Ryan Kennedy — who was wearing a blue wig and hanging over the first-row railing at Ford Field. In one angle of the incident posted on Instagram, Metcalf walked up to Kennedy, grabbed him by his shirt collar to pull him closer, then forcefully shoved him back. The fan, who threw his hands up after Metcalf made contact with him, appeared to have a yellow jersey in his hands.
In a statement released by a Michigan law firm Monday, Kennedy denied he used a racial slur, “misogynistic, or hate-based language during the incident,” as some reports on social media suggested.
Several videos of the interaction were posted to social media in the days since the game, including one that appeared to show Kennedy saying, “That was the goal, folks,” after the altercation.
Metcalf previously reported the fan to Seahawks security following a previous interaction when he played for Seattle in Detroit, a source confirmed to ESPN.
While Tomlin said he didn’t condone Metcalf’s behavior, the coach said the receiver’s day-to-day actions made him “easy to support.”
“He’s been great,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “He cares. He works hard. He’s a heck of a guy. He’s a good teammate, and that’s why he’s easy to support.”
Tomlin also added that he’s tried to prepare players for dealing with fans using “volatile rhetoric.”
“I just think volatile rhetoric is a component of our business today, unfortunately,” he said. “It just is. But not only our business, college, youth sport parents. I think it’s just a component of sport that’s developed, and developed in a big way in recent years, and it’s unfortunate.”
With Metcalf now sidelined and wide receiver Calvin Austin III dealing with a hamstring injury, the Steelers likely will look to second-year wide receiver Roman Wilson to have an increased role in the final two games. Wilson, a 2024 third-round pick, has been a healthy scratch the last three games since the additions of veteran wide receivers Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
“One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity,” Tomlin said. “… I’m excited what this opportunity might mean for [Wilson] to display growth in the midst of a time where he hadn’t been participating, to show his professionalism and his readiness and how he’s been sharpening his sword for battle in the ranks while he hadn’t been playing.
“You can waste a lot of time pining for those that you don’t have. As a leader, I think it’s my job to work and prepare those that I do have and position them to live out their dreams and be positive contributors to a winning effort.”
The Steelers can clinch the AFC North this weekend, either with a loss by the Ravens to the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night or with a win over the Browns on Sunday.
