DK Metcalf has seemingly been everywhere this offseason, from testing himself against an elite field of sprinters in the 100-meter dash, to staring in a new Gatorade ad campaign, to a brief cameo in the video for Young Thug and Gunna's new song, "Ski," to Monday's news that he'll take part in the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game at Coors Field later this summer.
But despite his rising level of fame, Metcalf remains first and foremost focused on his football career, which is why he was back on the practice field Tuesday with most of his Seahawks teammates for organized team activities. Seahawks players, via the NFLPA, had announced in April that they would not take part in any voluntary offseason workouts, citing COVID-19 concerns, they began this week with 76 of 90 players in attendance for OTAs ahead of next week's mandatory minicamp.
One reason veteran players elected to come back early was the ability to get some extra time in a new offense with Shane Waldron taking over as offensive coordinator this season.
"It's a new offense, so there's a lot of different new things to learn," Metcalf said. "That's one reason why we're here in OTAs is just to get our feet wet in the offense, try to take care of as many mistakes as we can early so during training camp it's going to be smooth sailing."
The Seahawks obviously won't want to divulge much as far as details of when it comes to their new offense, but Metcalf did note that Waldron's offense is "very intricate."
"He's a hungry coach, that's what I like about him," Metcalf said. "He's always trying to learn something new, not only about the players, but about the game of football and about offense. He's always coming up with new ways to try to get his playmakers the ball."
Metcalf also implied that the offense he and the offense are learning isn't just going to be a carbon copy of the Rams offense Waldron worked in for the past four seasons.
"It's a lot of different kinds of routes that people haven't seen from either team that he's coached," Metcalf said. "So I'm just excited to get to work with him and get to hone in on those other skills."
As for Metcalf's other sporting endeavors this offseason, Metcalf offered that his goal is: "Just to be one of the greatest humans to walk this planet earth. God says the same, so I'm just taking it day by day and honing on as many different skills as I can."
Metcalf wasn't quite the greatest 100-meter runner when he took on some of the country's best sprinters at USA Track & Field's Golden Games last month, but his time of 10.36 seconds was good enough to earn him a lot of praise, particularly seeing as the 235-pound receiver was carrying considerably more weight than his opponents. But despite an impressive performance with limited training, Metcalf came away from that experience realizing there is a difference between elite track speed and elite football speed.
"Those are some fast human beings," he said. "They are very fast and very good at what they do, and I'm going to stick to football for right now.
"Track athletes, they prepare their whole lives for events like that. It was a very great experience just to be out there with those kinds of athletes and test my speed against them. They are not talked about amongst the sports world, and I think they should be just because of how they train and their mindset. Just going out and warming up against them is very different from football; they're all locked in and very focused on their technique. So that's what I loved about the track athletes."
While Metcalf didn't have near the experience of the athletes he was competing against on the track, he did at least have some background in the sport having been a state-champion sprinter in high school. But when it comes to the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game, he'll be taking on a sport he never really played beyond tee-ball as a young child. Metcalf did say he'll get some practice in between now and next month's All-Star weekend, and he certainly not trying to lower expectations.
"If I had a player to compare myself to, I would say Hank Aaron," he said. "The late Hank Aaron, kind of subtle, but very good at his craft. We'll see when I step in the batter's box during the game."
