Wide receiver DK Metcalf will miss the Pittsburgh Steelers’ final two games of the regular season following an altercation with a Detroit Lions fan in Week 16. He appeared to grab the shirt of a fan wearing a blue wig in the front row of the stands at Ford Field and shoved him.
Metcalf argued that the fan, later identified as Ryan Kennedy, made racial and misogynistic slurs to him.
Now, Kennedy is calling for Metcalf to come forward and say those accusations are false.
‘I guess want to be crystal clear about one thing: I didn’t use any racial slurs, no hate speech, none of that stuff at the game,’ Kennedy said during a Dec. 26 news conference. ‘Actually, never. Fifteen years as a season ticket holder for the Lions, I’ve never done that at all.’
He then addressed Metcalf directly.
‘DeKaylin, if you’re watching this, man … if you could just say that, please, like, my family’s getting threats and stuff, and it’s not cool,’ he said. ‘Whether you said that or not, I’m sure you didn’t want that to happen to the family. Even if you did, like, I forgive you man. That’s all I got. Go Lions.’
Kennedy’s attorney, Shawn Head, said his client’s family has been threatened and harassed and his business has received negative online reviews. Head also said he’s reached out to Metcalf’s representatives and hasn’t heard back.
‘Metcalf does have the ability to explain what was not said,’ Head said.
The Steelers’ wide receiver appealed his two-game suspension for what the league called ‘conduct detrimental to the NFL’ but the suspension was upheld. The earliest he could return to the field would be for the wild-card round of the NFL postseason if Pittsburgh earns a playoff spot.
What happened between DK Metcalf and the Lions fan?
There are two accounts on what happened during the Week 16 game in Detroit between the Lions and the Steelers. Metcalf and Kennedy have two different stories.
Kennedy told the Detroit Free Press that he’s the ‘biggest Detroit Lions fan ever that got attacked by DeKaylin Zecharius Metcalf.’ He maintains that the altercation began because Metcalf was upset he used the wide receiver’s full government name.
‘He doesn’t like his government name,’ Kennedy said shortly after the incident. ‘I called him that and then he grabbed me and ripped my shirt. I’m a little shocked. Like everyone’s talking to me. I’m a little rattled, but I just want the Lions to win, baby.’
Metcalf maintains something else happened. He told longtime NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson that he heard a racial slur and an offensive word about his mother which led to the incident.
Kennedy denies that.
This isn’t the first time these two have interacted. Metcalf reported Kennedy to Ford Field security last season when he was playing for the Seahawks during Seattle’s Week 4 game against the Lions in Detroit.