After a verbal volley featuring variations of “no comment” to four questions, a team employee made DK Metcalf smile early Monday afternoon.
“Thank you, Miss Teresa,” Metcalf said when asked how excited he was to be back with his teammates.
His two-game suspension served, Metcalf was given a reprieve in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wild win in the NFL regular-season finale Sunday night. That allows him to continue to play during the 2025 NFL season and return to an offense that could sorely use his skills as a bona fide No. 1 wide receiver as it prepares for a playoff opener next Monday night.
“I’m excited as hell to be back in the building around my teammates, being at meetings, going to practice,” Metcalf said Monday from UPMC Rooney Sports Complex in his first public comments in almost three weeks. “You know, all the things that encompass a week of preparation.”
DK Metcalf’s only public comments about the situation with the Lions fan that got him suspended
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) January 5, 2026
(Watch how happy he is to stop being asked about it) pic.twitter.com/pHuBR2dJX3
Metcalf’s two-game NFL suspension was upheld upon appeal after his interaction with Lions fan Ryan Kennedy during the first half of the Steelers’ Dec. 21 win at Ford Field.
Without Metcalf during a Week 17 game at the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers offense looked lost in a defeat to a previously 3-12 team. On Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers prevailed in a de facto AFC North championship game, in part, because other receivers made plays in a 26-24 win.
A happier and more expansive DK Metcalf on watching the Steelers win Sunday and being welcomed back into the facility pic.twitter.com/sA77YGPOvC
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) January 5, 2026
Metcalf said he watched Sunday’s game alone at his house.
“It was a roller coaster,” Metcalf said of the game that included four fourth-quarter lead changes. “I couldn’t watch some moments because of my anxiety. … I’m just happy my teammates got me a ‘W.’ ”
Metcalf shared hugs and handshakes with a handful of teammates and Steelers staffers throughout the 45 minutes that the Steelers’ locker room was open to media Monday. He appeared at ease and palpably pleased that his highly publicized banishment was over, even at one point thanking the NFL for “allowing” him to come to the facility last week so that he could work out on his own on team property. (Suspended players are not permitted to participate in practices or meetings, however).
That Metcalf provided the public olive branch to the league office was notable because just 13 days prior it had upheld his multi-game suspension.
During the win against the Lions, CBS cameras caught Metcalf approach Kennedy — who was leaning over a front-row railing behind the Steelers bench — grab him by the shirt collar and shove him away upward.
Kennedy said he called Metcalf over to ask for an autograph and that Metcalf was irked that Kennedy used his full name (DeKaylin Zecharius Metcalf) in summoning him.
“I can’t walk you all through nothing that happened,” Metcalf said Monday when asked about the incident.
The closest Metcalf came to commenting on the ordeal was when he was asked if he was surprised the NFL did not reduce or eliminate the suspension upon an appeal hearing.
“Yeah,” Metcalf said, “but it’s hard to say.”
Asked a follow-up if he wanted to clarify any “misinformation” that’s been reported about the altercation with Kennedy, Metcalf said: “I can’t say anything about what happened, for the fifth time.”
Metcalf did not explicitly clarify, but Kennedy’s hiring of a law firm that has threatened legal action likely explains Metcalf’s lack of desire to comment more expansively.
The day after the incident in Detroit, a pair of former NFL players — Chad Ochocinco and former Steelers linebacker James Harrison — said on respective podcasts they cohost that Kennedy used racial and misogynistic language in addressing Metcalf.
Kennedy has strongly denied this and publicly implored Metcalf “to tell the truth” about their interaction. No audio or other proof has emerged, and the Lions cleared Kennedy of any wrongdoing in regards to their code of conduct.
A pair of NFL spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. The most recent time the league publicly addressed the Metcalf incident, it said the matter remained under review.
Publicly, at least, Metcalf did his best Monday to shift attention away from the interaction with Kennedy and resulting suspension and on to next Monday night’s wild-card round Steelers playoff opener against the Houston Texans.
“We get to play another game,” Metcalf said. “My teammates gave me another opportunity to come back, so just a big shout out to them.”
