Steelers Now
One NFL insider weighs in on if Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf will get his suspension reduced.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf was given a two-game suspension for his altercation with a fan at Ford Field during the team’s Week 16 win against the Detroit Lions. It has since been reported that Metcalf will appeal, but one NFL insider doesn’t think he will be very successful in doing so.
“I’m curious to see what happens with the appeal, which should be today. They do these things pretty quickly because the team and the player want to know. Is he going to be available? I don’t think it gets overturned,” ESPN insider Dan Graziano said. “We have seen instances where you could appeal it down from two games to one. I just don’t know what his case is like. There’s nothing. The reason they gave for the suspension is all cut and dried. Like even if he was provoked, I don’t know why they would reduce it, given the reasons they outlined in their announcements. So my guess would have to be that he misses two games.”
Graziano has already been very outspoken about the situation. Following the game, he expressed that while the league could not eject Metcalf from the game since no flag was thrown, head coach Mike Tomlin should have stepped in to handle the situation himself.
“Let me be clear: It is a travesty that Metcalf was allowed to continue playing, and Tomlin absolutely should have benched him. Period,” Graziano posted on X.
Metcalf finished the game with just four catches for 42 yards on nine targets. However, his presence on the field certainly helped the Steelers offense open things up.
It was also as close to a must-win game for Pittsburgh, which continues to fend off the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.
Either way, it will be interesting to see what the league decides. There have since been several conflicting reports.
According to the Detroit Free Press, which tracked down the fan in the stands, Metcalf got upset after he called him by his full government name, “DeKaylin Zecharius Metcalf.”
However, former Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison and former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson said there were other words exchanged that escalated the situation.
“I got word — obviously, I’m not condoning putting your hands on a fan or punching a fan — but he did call him a racial slur,” Johnson said on the “Nightcap” podcast. “He called him the n-word and he did call his mom a cunt. I think, with those words being exchanged and the fan saying that, I think that’s where the action occurred.”
The fan has since denied saying such things to Metcalf.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Insider Shares Likelihood of DK Metcalf’s Suspension Getting Reduced
