Seahawks’ DK Metcalf says NFL officials have stopped talking to him, just flag him

Playing in an ice box in Kansas City?

DK Metcalf sees it as an opportunity — to show off his famously chiseled physique.

The Seahawks’ 6-foot-4, 235-pound wide receiver with renowned body fat and legendary workout photos knows it’s supposed to be about 14 degrees with a wind chill around zero at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday. That’s where and when Seattle (7-7) will play Christmas Eve at AFC West-champion Kansas City (11-3).

“The cold? Nah, I’m not worried about it,” the Mississippi native said.

“I may go out shirtless.”

There is a segment of the Seahawks’ fan base that would be thrilled to see that.

Metcalf is used to dealing with cold situations on the field this season.

He says NFL game officials won’t talk to him anymore during games.

Metcalf got his third penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct this season during Seattle’s last game, Thursday against the 49ers. San Francisco’s Dre Greenlaw had just gestured to the Seahawks sideline following his tackle of Seattle running back Travis Homer short of the line to gain. That was on a third-down pass in the second quarter of the 49ers’ 21-13 win at Lumen Field. Metcalf was blocking after Homer’s catch of Geno Smith’s short pass. As Greenlaw jogged to the 49ers’ sideline and Metcalf headed to the opposite one, Metcalf gave the 49ers linebacker a shove with his left shoulder. He put it into Greenlaw’s chest.

Greenlaw didn’t like that. He jawed and lunged at Metcalf. The Seahawks’ wide receiver jawed and gestured back to Greenlaw, with a “bring-it-on” motion using hands.

San Francisco’s Charvarius Ward broke up the confrontation. Officials flagged Metcalf for a 15-yard, dead-ball penalty for taunting Greenlaw.

It was the sixth penalty on Metcalf this season. That’s tied with Las Vegas’ Mack Hollis for the most penalties on an NFL wide receiver in 2022.

Metcalf says he’s not changing his physical ways.

“Beating someone’s ass like I do when I’m blocking, sometimes the officials don’t like that,” Metcalf said Tuesday.

“So I’m just going to continue to play football how I know how to play it and that’s in between the whistle. You can’t stop that.”

Metcalf said he doesn’t know — yet — if he’s been fined for his latest penalty. He got fined just under $30,000 for protesting to an official for not calling pass interference on a Tampa Bay defender during the Seahawks’ loss to the Buccaneers in Munich last month.

What did the official who threw the late, as teams were sending their punt teams on for the next down, penalty on Metcalf last week say to him?

“They won’t talk to me,” Metcalf said, “so, can’t get an explanation from someone who won’t talk to me.”

He said that’s become a pattern with officials during games this season.

“Yeah,” Metcalf said, “the refs won’t talk to me, so ... .”

Still, he says, “I’m not going to stop blocking or being aggressive, because that’s who I am as a player, and that’s why the Seahawks drafted me, because I’m a competitor — and I block my ass off.

“I’m not going to stop doing that.”

If it sounds as if Metcalf has gotten the assurance from coach Pete Carroll to keep playing his way, it’s because Metcalf has.

“I don’t want him to be anything but what he is and who he is. He’s a frickin’ warrior on the football field,” Carroll said Friday, the day after the 49ers game. “He wants to walk that edge and live there in the game. I’m all for it. He’s just got to not screw it up and get penalized on it.

“He did and made mistakes out there and they got him.”

DK Metcalf 13 penalties last two seasons

The Seahawks re-signed their 25-year-old receiver (he turned 25 last week) to a $72 million contract extension with a $30 million signing bonus before this season.

He has had 13 flags on him the last two seasons. Three have been for unsportsmanlike conduct. Two have been for taunting.

He was ejected from Seattle’s 17-0 loss at Green Bay in the 2021 season for fighting. After that game and ejection, Metcalf said, “I’ve gotta grow up.”

This season he got fine of $29,785 for arguing with an official over pass interference not being called on a Tampa Bay defensive back on a long pass from Smith to him Nov. 13. That was during Seattle’s loss to the Buccaneers in Munich.

Up to that game in Germany there had been 25 reported fines for unsportsmanlike conduct across the league through 11 weeks this season, according to Spotrac.com. Metcalf’s was the most expensive sanction for the infraction. He got fined $6,000 more than the next-most-expensive unsportsmanlike fine, to Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase in week one.

Metcalf also was penalized against San Francisco last week for grabbing the back of Ward’s jersey and pulling the cornerback off-balance before what would have been a 27-yard catch to the San Francisco 43 with 34 seconds left in the first half. That penalty ended any chance Seattle had to cut into the Niners’ 14-3 lead before halftime.

San Francisco took the second-half kickoff and turned it into a touchdown and a 21-3 lead.

As physical as the hulking Metcalf is, yes, he’s going to get pass-interference penalties.

As physically imposing as he is, plus with his history of flags, it’s obvious NFL officials are seeing and, in fact, watching for everything Metcalf does during and particularly after plays.

And Metcalf is going to continue to do things.

“He’s freaking competing like an elite performer with the highest of expectations. And every once in a while he may make a mistake in that level that he plays at,” Carroll said Friday. “He could do a little bit better. Yeah, he could do a little bit better. We just got finished talking about that.”