Ryan Kennedy held a presser today regarding his altercation with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf, who punched him during the Steel City’s 29-24 win over the Detroit Lions. Metcalf has already been suspended the final two games of the season, a loss of over $550,000 in salary, but it’s the voiding of his $45 million in guaranteed money that made this a costly blunder. There are reports of Kennedy being a Metcalf troll, with the wideout reporting him to security when he was with Seattle Seahawks last year.
NEW: The Lions fan who had a punch thrown at him by Steelers' DK Metcalf holds a bizarre press conference, says he is evaluating all "options."
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 26, 2025
The comments come after the fan, Ryan Kennedy, was accused of saying something 'racist.'
"Being falsely branded as a racist is one of… pic.twitter.com/hPeQvI8nsJ
DK Metcalf appears to have an altercation with a Detroit fan pic.twitter.com/a478Zjg3tR
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 21, 2025
Whatever the case, the allegation is that Metcalf became physical after Kennedy called him the n-word and his mother the c-word. Kennedy has denied that, issuing a press release earlier through his attorneys. He’s alleged the only thing he ever did was call DK by his government name. Some of Kennedy’s initial remarks were lost since he was muted halfway through the press conference this morning (via Detroit Free Press):
Ryan Kennedy, the Lions fan involved in the altercation with DK Metcalf, held a press conference this morning. Unclear his full message because the audio on their zoom was muted until halfway through.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 26, 2025
He did ask “DeKaylin” to tell people he didn’t use racial slur or hate speech pic.twitter.com/6mBRV1X02u
Courtesy of Fox 2 Detroit, Lions fan Ryan Kennedy’s full statement given before questions at his press conference on Friday morning.
— Brendan Howe (@bybrendanhowe) December 26, 2025
Worth noting, he refers to #Steelers WR DK Metcalf by his full first name, which Kennedy said was what bothered Metcalf before their incident on… pic.twitter.com/mA3mHGd94m
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Backwards hat is an outrageous move here. https://t.co/QX3oU7kD9k
— Jack Mac (@JackMac) December 26, 2025
Detroit Lions fan Ryan Kennedy wants Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf to come forward and say the accusations that he made racial and misogynistic slurs to the NFL player during a Week 16 altercation between the two are false.
"DeKaylin, if you're watching this man ... if you could just say that, please, like, my family's getting threats and stuff, and it's not cool," Kennedy said during a news conference with his attorneys Friday, Dec. 26.
"I'm sure you didn't want that to happen to the family. Even if you did, like, I forgive you, man. That's all I got. Go, Lions."
[…]
Kennedy was never kicked out of the Week 16 game.
"He complied with the Ford Field guest code of conduct. He did not use any profanity. Again, he did not use any racial slurs, and he followed the rules," [Attorney Shawn] Head said.
"And this isn't just me saying it. Ford Field security investigated the incident and allowed Mr. Kennedy to return to the seats after it was determined that no code of conduct violation occurred."
Head said his firm is prepared to engage in legal remedies to protect Kennedy and his family. The goal of Friday's press conference was accountability, to "correct the record," and to push Metcalf to "tell the truth," Head said.
[…]
"But there's two things — animal abuse, racism. Like I get hot, right away. Like I could feel it in my face. It gets all warm," Kennedy said.
"I guess I want to be crystal clear about one thing: I didn't use any racial slurs, no hate speech, none of that stuff during the game. Actually, never."
Let the games begin.
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