Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf is having an inconsistent year, but one reason is he is playing against cornerbacks like Charvarius Ward. In Week 12, Ward, who is in his sixth season in the NFL and second with the San Francisco 49ers, had the assignment of covering Metcalf and he basically shut Metcalf down. DK Metcalf, though, handled that with class.
In fact, ever since Metcalf drew a lot of heat for getting so many unnecessary 15-yard penalties early in the season (and, really, over the last four years) and disrespectfully dismissed head coach Pete Carroll putting Metcalf's penalties on a whiteboard so the team could see how the penalties were hurting the team, Metcalf has been relatively humble and appreciative. Basically, he seems to have gone back to his truer self that many 12s fell in love with.
When asked this week in a press conference about Ward saying he liked shadowing Metcalf during games and if there was mutual respect from Metcalf, the Seattle receiver said, "Any corner who can travel with me for a whole duration of a game, I have mad respect for." And Metcalf also implied one of Ward's best traits is that Ward is not "going to back down from a fight."
DK Metcalf should remain one of the faces of the Seattle Seahawks franchise
#Seahawks DK Metcalf gave #49ers Charvarius Ward his flowers ahead of their next matchup on Sunday 🤝 pic.twitter.com/N4um73uOrT
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) December 7, 2023
DK Metcalf did have great success against the 49ers in last season's Wild Card game as he had 10 catches on 13 targets for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns, but in Week 12 Metcalf only caught 3 of 9 targets for only 32 yards. Clearly, if Seattle has any chance to beat San Francisco Metcalf is going to have to be better in Week 14 against Ward. That is a must-see matchup.
Another must-see about DK Metcalf right now is watching him use American Sign Language during games. He teased fans at first saying he was only learning ASL so he could trash-talk opponents without getting fined. This is not fully the case, though. Metcalf wanted to learn ASL simply so he could learn something new.
Of course, it helps that Metcalf's teammate, Boye Mafe, also knows ASL as it gives Metcalf someone to sign with. Mafe has said even though Metcalf is just beginning to learn the language, Metcalf knows enough that he and Mafe can jokingly trash-talk each other in the locker room.
So yet another reason to watch Seahawks games, even if they are losing, is to see what Metcalf (and Mafe) might sign soon. Metcalf hopes to become fluent in ASL. A dream would be seeing Metcalf standing next to whoever the president is many years from now while Metcalf signs the president's speech. People can just look at the screen and say, "Wait! Isn't that..."
In other DK Metcalf news, turns out he has been turned into a Game of Thrones character by actor Will McFadden. "Paladin of the Puget"? Sweet. "The Trash Signer"? Awesome. "Dekaylin Zecarius of House MetCow"? Perfect.