Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf is a rugged player who is willing to put his body on the line for his team. That was evidenced in the team’s win over the Baltimore Ravens, where he decided to play at gunner on the punt team for a rep, something he called “the hardest thing” he has ever had to do in his career.
Yet, Metcalf sees the NFL has gotten far too soft in the modern age. He pointed to increased fines over the last few years.
“I don’t like what football is becoming. Yeah, it’s becoming soft,” Metcalf said on The Christian Kuntz Podcast. “So that’s all I’m gonna say. I know they fine folks for saying too much… I’ve gotten fined for pancaking a guy on the opposite side. Like, if the run was running to the right side and I’m on the left, I pancake the guy on the left, they fine me for that. It’s crazy. But like, I can’t block nobody. (The referee) was like, ‘It’s away from the play.’ I’m like, ‘Anything could happen. He could reverse field right, come over there.’”
Metcalf said that the Steelers are “blue collar” and that is what he likes in the game. Yet, the NFL has started to phase that out of the game, and he railed against it.
Metcalf has been fined in the past this year for celebrations and “violent gestures,” which he has also disagreed with publicly at multiple times.