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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin expressed his support for wide receiver DK Metcalf before the star player’s two-game suspension for throwing a punch at a fan was upheld.
Tomlin did not elaborate on his reaction to seeing the clip, which showed Metcalf near the barrier between the Steelers’ sideline and the stands. The CBS broadcast captured the interaction, which showed Metcalf pulling the fan’s shirt and swinging.
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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin watches from the sidelines during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 7, 2025. (Mitch Stringer/Imagn Images)
The longtime head coach acknowledged Tuesday the increasingly “volatile rhetoric” in sports.
“Not only (in) our company, (but) college, youth sports parents,” he said. “I think it’s just part of the sport that’s developed and evolved in a big way in recent years, and that’s unfortunate.”
It’s unclear what the fan, identified as Ryan Kennedy, said to Metcalf that sparked the altercation. Kennedy was accused of making a racist comment and making a derogatory remark about the player’s mother. However, Kennedy strongly denied the allegations in a statement through a law firm. The statement said no hateful language was used.
Another report said that when Metcalf played for the Seattle Seahawks, he reported the fan to team personnel when he was previously in Detroit.
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Pittsburgh Steelers’ DK Metcalf wipes his face on the bench during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Rey Del Rio)
Tomlin didn’t speculate when asked if there was more teams could do to protect players in that situation.
“I talk about it and talk about it in detail and especially expressing my opinion about things doesn’t help in any way,” he said.
The NFL upheld Metcalf’s suspension Tuesday night.
The league said Metcalf violated the league’s policy, which states that players may not enter the stands or otherwise confront fans at any time on game day, and if a player makes unnecessary physical contact with a fan in any way that constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct or creates crowd control issues and/or risk of injury, he will be held responsible.”
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He will miss the team’s final two games of the season, leaving a boatload of money on the table.
