Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is supportive of D.K. Metcalf after the receiver received a two-game suspension but said he doesn’t condone his actions during Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.
Metcalf was punished by the league after swiping at a fan in the stands in Detroit in the second quarter of the Steelers’ 29-24 victory over the Lions. The NFL said the suspension was for “conduct detrimental to the league.”
“He did explain to me why he did what he did, and I certainly don’t condone the behavior, but I support D.K.,” Tomlin said during a press conference on Tuesday. “And I really don’t have a lot to add other than what I just told you.”
Metcalf reported this same fan to security last season when he was a member of the Seattle Seahawks. He was scheduled to have an appeals hearing on Tuesday, according to Tomlin.
“I certainly don’t want to weigh in prior to that,” said Tomlin, “and certainly I’ve heard more recently that there might be legal ramifications, and so I better be careful about what I say and how I say it. I’m sure you guys got a lot of questions. I understand that, but that’s just a posture I’m in as I sit here today with so many components of this thing yet to be resolved.”
Metcalf was spotted talking to the fan, who was sporting a blue wig and hanging over the first-row railing. The two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver grabbed the man by his shirt to move him closer before throwing a right hand toward the fan’s face.
Metcalf did not appear to make much contact with the fan, who threw his hands up in a defensive posture.
Tomlin also touched on this era’s dynamic of rowdy sporting environments.
“You know, I just think volatile rhetoric is a component of our business today, unfortunately,” Tomlin 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. But, really, I have nothing to say about the matter other than that.”
Metcalf, 28, has 59 catches for 850 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games during his first season with the Steelers. He also has two carries for 12 yards and a score.
A second-round pick of Seattle in the 2019 NFL Draft, Metcalf has 497 catches for 7,174 yards and 54 touchdowns in 112 career games with the Seahawks and Steelers.
