DK Metcalf Reportedly Called N-Word By Fan He Punched Mid-Game

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Detroit Lions this week, but it didn’t stop DK Metcalf from taking a midgame L after he got into it with a fan on the sidelines.

During the second quarter, video shows the wide receiver calmly walking over to the stands to confront a fan rocking a long, blue wig. Metcalf grabs him by the wig and pulls him towards the railing. He let go before hitting them in the face, then walks away. 

CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson gave a play-by-play of the altercation, saying the fan waved him over to the sideline. 

“He came over because the fan in the stands was holding a ‘4’ Pittsburgh jersey, he went over, and the fan said something to him,” Wolfson said. “Obviously, Metcalf did not like what he said, and you saw the swipe there. No Steelers came over to him and mentioned anything.”

After the game, the fan, later identified as Ryan Kennedy, claimed all he did was call Metcalf by his full name (Kaylin Zecharius Metcalf), which set him off.

“I called him that, and then he grabbed me and ripped my shirt,” Kennedy told the Detroit Free Press. “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.”

The fan wasn’t removed from the game, and Metcalf returned in the second half, finishing the game with 42 yards on four catches as his team won 29-24.

League officials haven’t announced a suspension or fine for Metcalf, but with two regular-season games left against the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens, there’s a possibility he’ll be benched for both.

Whatever the punishment is, Metcalf’s overreacting for just being called his entire government name, but on the Nightcap podcast with Shannon Sharpe, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson said there’s more to it.

“I got word — obviously, I’m not condoning putting your hands on a fan or punching the fan — but he did call [Metcalf] a racial slur. He called him the N-word, and he did call his mom a c-nt. I think with those words being exchanged and the fan saying that, I think that’s where the action occurred.”

That certainly does change things, and if true, the fan will probably get a lifetime ban from Detroit Ford Field.

See the reaction to the interaction as we await the fallout below.