DK Metcalf has been a vital contributor to the Seahawks in his young career and his trajectory continues to point skyward for the foreseeable future. However, the third-year wide receiver’s strong production has come with a side effect that has flared up at inopportune times.

On a few occasions this season, Metcalf has let his emotions get the best of him, jawing at opposing players and drawing unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that can be easily avoided. This was particularly noticeable near the end of Seattle’s 17-0 defeat at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, in which he got into an altercation with several Packers players and grabbed the facemasks of Eric Stokes and Henry Black. In his postgame interview, he stated that his actions were a result of him being “tired of losing.”

Metcalf’s frustration is understandable at times, but the fact of the matter is that the yellow flags fly when he loses his temper and this behavior could cost his team greatly down the line if it continues. Longtime Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner told reporters that he sat down with Metcalf and talked with him about keeping his emotions in check.

“I just was talking to him, wanting him to understand that this moment was bigger than it needed to be,” Wagner said. “That’s really all it is.”

Wagner compared Metcalf’s emotional outburst in Green Bay to a similar incident involving former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman back in the 2013-14 NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, when he got heated in a postgame interview with Erin Andrews after receiving a shove to the facemask from 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree following his game-clinching interception that allowed Seattle to progress to Super Bowl XLVIII, which they would ultimately win.

“I think it’s very similar to Sherm,” Wagner said. “After Sherm made that play, everybody was looking and watching and they created this narrative that Sherm was this angry player that none of his teammates liked. But if you spoke with every teammate and you spoke with every person, and I’m pretty sure you guys would share the same sentiment, he was an amazing person, a caring person, a thoughtful person.” 

Wagner continued that Metcalf’s incidents do not leave him overly concerned and that he believes the receiver will learn from them and grow not just as a player, but as a person.

“No, it doesn’t concern me. I think it’s part of growth. There’s a lot of growth when you (first come) in the league.”

No matter the outcome for this Seahawks season, Metcalf must heed Wagner’s advice and keep his emotions under control for the sake of the team as well as himself.

“So that’s just kind of the message,” Wagner stated. “To control your narrative.”

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