Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — DK Metcalf won’t be spending Christmas with his teammates. At least not at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ facility on the South Side.
The NFL suspended Metcalf for the final two games of the regular season on Monday, then upheld the punishment after the Steelers’ star receiver appealed on Tuesday. Longtime Steelers leader Cam Heyward isn’t a fan of how Metcalf can’t go about his daily routine — which includes practicing and any team activity at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex — while serving the suspension.
“One thing I don’t understand in these situations is when a guy gets suspended, we keep him out of the locker room, we keep him from the facility,” Heyward said Wednesday morning before practice. “I know DK’s in a much better situation, but there’s plenty of guys that get lost in those situations. This is a family.
“This is a team, and when you take somebody and you rip somebody from that and say ‘Hey, you’re suspended without pay,’ what are we really saying? We’re kinda putting those guys at a disadvantage.”
Metcalf is in hot water for his incident with a Detroit Lions fan at Ford Field on Sunday. He approached the fan at the wall behind the Steelers’ benches and grabbed him. The fan claimed he provoked Metcalf by calling him by his full name, but Chad Johnson and James Harrison have both stated that Metcalf told them the fan used a slur and spoke negatively about his mother.
Metcalf will forfeit over $500,000 for the games he’ll miss. The suspension also voids $45 million in contract guarantees.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Cam Heyward Names Huge Snag in Steelers Teammate DK Metcalf’s Suspension
