Seahawks WR DK Metcalf Advises 2020 NFL Draft Class
After being selected with the 64th overall pick in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf turned heads during his rookie season. He would go on to finish his first NFL campaign with 58 catches for 900 yards and added seven touchdowns. He finished second amongst rookies in catches, third in receiving yards, and tied for the third-most touchdowns.
Metcalf also added his name to an exclusive list, as he also finished the season as one 20 rookies in NFL history to record 900 yards and seven or more touchdowns at the age of 22 or younger. During the Seahawks wild card victory against the Eagles, Metcalf set a postseason single-game record for a rookie with 160 receiving yards.
Recently, Metcalf was part of a rookie webinar along with Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew and 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, with former Seahawks defensive back Mo Kelly moderating the panel discussion. According to Rob Maaddi of The Associated Press, Tracy Perlman, the NFL senior vice president of football communications and marketing, shared the two questions rookies asked the most were about social media and how they can fit into an NFL locker room.
“I think Mo told us in our rookie meeting: ‘Don’t sit nowhere. Let everybody come in first and sit down. Then you find your seat last,’” Metcalf said. “So that really set the tone for the year and how to approach everything. Just wait my turn and soak up as much knowledge from the vets as I could.”
Metcalf shared with the 2020 rookie class that they have to protect brands, use social for positivity, and manage their money wisely.
“I told them you can’t make everybody happy,” he said. “You’re building a brand and you have to protect that brand, so if somebody calls you out on Twitter or Instagram, you can’t respond. Use social media for a positive impact on your life and other people’s lives and not a negative one.”
Metcalf also shared some advice about budgeting, as rookies will receive an influx of money they've never earned before coming out of the college ranks.
“The easiest way to manage that is just to know where your money is going and who has control of it,” he said. “Be proactive and know where your money is going, how you’re spending it, get a budget.”
He finished his portion of the panel by telling the 2020 draft class that they didn't have to endure some of the things he had with the draft being virtual this year. So, it was a blessing and challenge at the same time with pre-draft meetings being canceled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
“I told some guys it’s a good thing and a bad thing, because what I learned last year about the whole draft process is people are looking for something bad to point out about you no matter what it is,” Metcalf said. “So the less opportunity teams had to nitpick anything you did wrong was a better position for you. But for the guys who didn’t get invited to the combine, who only had a chance to show what they could do at pro day, that’s the other bad part about it, so there’s two ways you can look at it.”
