Pete Carroll has (another) ‘long talk’ with Seahawks DK Metcalf over latest taunting foul
Pete Carroll just talked at length to DK Metcalf about controlling his emotions.
Again.
The next test of whether Seattle’s 25-year-old wide receiver has learned will be Sunday. That’s when the Seahawks (0-1) will enter what is expected to be sold-out, wildly roaring Ford Field in Detroit.
Dan Campbell, coach of the Lions (1-0), said Monday he thinks the noise in his stadium Sunday for Detroit’s home opener is going to be louder than it was in Kansas City’s renowned Arrowhead Stadium last week while the Lions beat the Chiefs there.
“I just know our fans,” Campbell told media in Michigan. “It’ll be to the point where you can’t hear yourself think.”
That might be a particularly challenging environment for Metcalf.
In Seattle’s friendly (to him) Lumen Field on Sunday, Metcalf lost his thinking and got a dead-ball penalty for taunting. It was the latest in a string of penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct NFL officials have flagged Seattle’s star wide receiver for in recent seasons.
He scored Seattle’s only touchdown in the opening game. Yet Metcalf’s got a “long talk” from his coach — and is more the talk of the Pacific Northwest — for another outburst late in the Seahawks’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
“I thought we lost our minds a little bit,” Carroll said following the game that also included defensive captain Quandre Diggs getting penalized late in it for unnecessary roughness.
Carroll said Monday he and Metcalf “talked for a long time” Sunday night following his latest penalty.
“He was great dealing with it and talking about the game,” Carroll said Monday afternoon, the day after the Seahawks’ ugly, 30-13 loss to the Rams. “We had a great conversation, very serious, man-to-man down to it. He wants to be great, and he wants to do everything he can to be great.
“We’ll figure it out.”
On the first play after the underdog Rams humbled the Seahawks by taking a 27-13 lead with 5 minutes left Sunday, Metcalf leveled unsuspecting Rams cornerback Akhello Witherspoon with a two-hand shiver to his shoulder at the end of a short pass play to tight end Colby Parkinson on the opposite half of the field.
Witherspoon, a one-time Seahawk teammate, stayed face-down injured following the play. Metcalf stayed fired up on the field during the injury time out. Coaches and players on the Rams’ sideline yelled at Metcalf.
Metcalf yelled back.
Officials then flagged one of the league’s leaders in penalties the last couple seasons: unsportsmanlike conduct for taunting.
“Well, I was blocking, and I guess I blocked him a little too hard and pushed him to the ground,” Metcalf said following the game. “He got all mad because he felt like I blocked him in the back. I mean, that’s just how I play. I block every play, and when I don’t have the ball, I’m never taking a play off or jogging trying to take a play off.
“So, that’s what transpired.”
What did officials tell him was unsportsmanlike about his actions?
“I saw their coaches yelling at me or saying something to me and their players,” Metcalf said. “I let that get to me, and I retaliated.
“You know, the second man always gets called, so, just have to be better in that aspect.”
Instead of second and 2, the Seahawks were backed up to second and 17 at their own 28-yard line. Geno Smith then got sacked on consecutive plays. On a gross fourth and 34, the Seahawks punted down 14 with 3-1/2 minutes to go.
Pete Carroll’s explanation
Earlier Monday, on his weekly radio show with KIRO-AM in Seattle, the coach was more expansive — and accurate — talking about Metcalf’s outburst.
It was part of a half-hour interview in which the coach said of his Seahawks: “We’ve got to get our act together.”
Carroll said Metcalf started it by hitting L.A.’s Witherspoon late and unnecessarily.
“He got into it with their guys, meaning: There was some jawing going on,” Carroll said.
“He was involved in a late hit on a guy that wasn’t called. And then that factored in to them getting juiced up. And he kind of responded to him.
“Which is ... DK and I talked for a long time (Sunday) night about that’s not what he can allow to happen ... they can control him and get after him. And, so, he has to elevate above that.”
Carroll acknowledged, “It’s a challenge.”
The coach also acknowledged he’s been through this before with Metcalf.
“This is nothing new,” Carroll said. “DK has been an emotional, fiery, feisty player since the day he got here. That is who he is.
“But he also has to manage that, so that they can’t take advantage of it.”
Carroll said it’s a fine line of emotion most NFL players have to play with, but not to the point that “it takes away from the way we play.”
“That’s quite clear. We understand that,” Carroll said. “I’ve been through this over the years with a lot of guys, and we have to manage our way through it. And we have to be in control, not let them factor into our stuff.”
One of those guys he’s primarily been through this with in recent seasons?
Metcalf.
Word is out around the NFL
Last season officials flagged Seattle’s hulking star for eight penalties. That was the most on any NFL wide receiver in 2022. Two penalties on him were for unsportsmanlike conduct. One was for taunting.
Last November, the NFL fined Metcalf $29,785 for yelling and pointing in what appeared to be the direction of NFL 15-year veteran side judge Allen Baynes. That was after officials did not penalize Tampa Bay cornerback Jamel Dean for some contact during Geno Smith’s throw toward Metcalf in a game in Munich. The play was at the goal line in the third quarter of a 14-0 game Seattle went on to lose 21-16 on Nov. 13.
In November 2021 officials ejected Metcalf for unsportsmanlike conduct after he fought with Green Bay’s Darnell Savage late in Seattle’s frustrating, 17-0 loss at the Packers.
“I’ve gotta grow up,” Metcalf said three days after that ejection.
Also in 2021 officials, penalized Metcalf for unsportsmanlike conduct in Seattle’s win over Jacksonville, and for taunting in his team’s opening win at Indianapolis. That latter penalty came as Metcalf’s then-teammate Gerald Everett was scoring a touchdown. Metcalf was woofing well behind the play into the face of a Colts player about the score.
Metcalf said then Carroll talked to him after each of those three penalties last season about not letting emotions and opponents take him out of his game.
In 2020 Metcalf got an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty during the Seahawks’ blowout win over the New York Jets. That was for comically jumping into a concrete well behind the end zone at Lumen Field after he caught a touchdown pass from Russell Wilson then commandeering a television camera.
He got fined $6,131 for that.
This story was originally published September 12, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Pete Carroll has (another) ‘long talk’ with Seahawks DK Metcalf over latest taunting foul."
