Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf has become a magnet for penalties, in part because he isn’t bashful about putting a defender on his ass away from the action. On Wednesday, he vowed to keep doing what he’s been doing.
Metcalf’s position was steadfast, despite coach Pete Carroll showing the team the most penalized players every week.
“We put all penalties on the board in Monday’s meetings, and the guys that have the most are on the top,” Carroll told reporters. “He was up there with another guy. We all have to acknowledge it and recognize what our issues are, whatever they are, and it happens to be in this case. He’s getting called. He knows. He’s got to clean it up and we have to make sure that we’re aware of how they’re calling stuff. He’s a very aggressive player and very physical and it stands out and he draws attention because of that. We’ve got to be cleaner. He knows it and he’s got to get it done.”
Metcalf didn’t seem to be moved by Carroll’s gesture.
"“It’s just a board to me, I’m not going to change the way I play,” Metcalf told reporters. “If you look at the penalties, there’s a taunting, unnecessary roughness, facemask, holding, and I think it was one more in there. I’m doing pretty good if I look at it and judge myself knowing how I play and just try to be consistent and have clean hands or whatever the case maybe, but I’m not going to change who I am as a player or a person.”
He was asked whether he gets caught up in the moment and loses control.
“Have you had a bad day at work sometimes?” Metcalf said. “All right, that’s all I nail it down to, nobody’s perfect. I’m my own person like I just said I’m a competitive person, I’m not going to shy away because he put a penalty board on the screen. I’m just going to continue to be me.”
Metcalf wouldn’t even concede that his behavior is harming the team’s interests.
“I don’t feel like I was a problem or I need to make progress in a certain area,” he said. “Football is a violent sport and it’s my one opportunity to be violent on game days, I’m just going to continue to do that.”
It’s fine to be violent, within the rules. Put a defensive player on the ground at the point of attack, not on the other side of the field. As noted earlier, the key word in “unnecessary roughness” is “unnecessary.” The NFL wants unnecessary contact out of the game.
On Sunday, Metcalf’s hit on a Bengals player was completely unnecessary. Metcalf was penalized, and he’ll surely be fined. But it doesn’t sound as if he’s gotten the message, even if he’s hearing it from his own head coach.