DK Metcalf ran faster than any NFL ball carrier in three-plus years on a touchdown in his most recent game.
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He amplified his celebration of the score by doing…American Sign Language.
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Turns out, the Seahawks’ wide receiver saying the internet slang term “stand on business” with his hands in the end zone at Dallas last week was years in the making.
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Seattle teammate Boye Mafe, who took four years of ASL courses as a teenager, showed Metcalf the signs for “stand on business” — taking care of one’s responsibilities and putting one’s money where his or her mouth is — at a team meeting the day before the Seahawks’ 41-35 loss at the Cowboys.
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Mafe told Metcalf last week: “Hey, I got a phrase for you.”
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Mafe regularly uses ASL with his fully hearing sister and brother, including to communicate when they are together in loud, crowded places
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“Actually ‘standing on business,’ Boye did that when he was walking out of the meeting Wednesday night. And he did it one time and I was like ‘One more time,’” Metcalf said. “I said ‘Again.’
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“He said…”
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Metcalf then demonstrated sweeping hand motions.
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“’Standing on business,” Metcalf said.
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“‘I said ‘OK, I’m using that tomorrow when I score.’”
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The next night, Metcalf caught a perfect pass in stride from quarterback Geno Smith away from a Dallas defensive back. He then ran 22.23 mph on his his 73-yard touchdown reception.
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The run on the first of his three touchdowns against the Cowboys was the fastest speed by an NFL ball carrier since Week 2, 2020 (Raheem Mostert, 23.0 mph), according to NFL Next GenStats.
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In the end zone after he’d scored in the first quarter, Metcalf looked into the Amazon Prime television camera directly in front of where he’d run to. On the live broadcast, he did sign language.
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“Everybody can give credit to Boye for that one,” Metcalf said Wednesday.
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An Seattle aural rehabilitation specialist described to The News Tribune this week Metcalf’s signs in the Dallas game were “pidgin” communication, not by-the-book ASL. He used the vocabulary words “stand” and “business,” as in the 2022 rap song by BIG30 “Stand On Business.” Strict ASL grammar would put those signs in different order, and used different vocabulary to express the “Stand on Business” concept, the specialist said.
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It wasn’t the first time Metcalf used sign language in a game. He did it last month in Seattle’s 17-16 loss at the Los Angeles Rams. Few noticed then.
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Millions notice now.
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While not technically correct, verbatim ASL, Metcalf using sign language in an NFL game on a national broadcast to tens of millions of viewers last week at Dallas has drawn rave reviews across the country from advocates for the deaf and hard of hearing.
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“Yes, sir,” Metcalf said. “A few people have reached out to me saying, ‘Thank you for learning ASL’ or ‘Thank you for just signing on national television.’”
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It also represents years of learning Metcalf has had in ASL.
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“Now that DK’s taking it, I will be using it with him every now and then,” Mafe, the Seahawks’ leading pass rusher, said. “It will be funny. We will be talking across (fields and meeting rooms), talkin’ smack.”
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DK Metcalf’s ASL background
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Metcalf, who turns 26 next week, said he first learned sign language in a summer course he took while attending classes at his hometown University of Mississippi.
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He was a star on Ole Miss’ football team from 2016-18.
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Dr. Ronda Bryan is an adjunct instructor of American Sign Language and faculty advisor for the University of Mississippi’s student sign language organization, Handband. She’s researched post-secondary experiences of students who are deaf and hard of hearing. She knows evidence-based best practices in American Sign Language teaching methodology.
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She loves DK Metcalf.
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“He was an amazing student,” Dr. Bryan wrote in an e-mail to The News Tribune Thursday. “He picked up the language remarkably well. He was a natural and so fun to have in class.”
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Oh, yes, his former teacher noticed his end-zone celebration in Dallas last week.
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“I love seeing him use the language on the field,” she said. “I don’t think he realizes the impact this is having on the Deaf community. Awareness is everything as it promotes inclusion and opportunities for this, often times, overlooked community.”
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Wednesday, Metcalf was thinking of his teacher at Ole Miss.
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“My ASL teacher, Ms. Bryan, was very cool, and I enjoyed the class,” Metcalf said.
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“I always try to exercise my mind or try to learn something new.”
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That’s including, in the past, acting classes.
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“Now I figured, ‘Let’s take it a step further,’” Metcalf said. “So I’d try to learn ASL. And I’m trying to learn to play the guitar right now, as well.”
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When he’s not strummin’ Seven Nation Army on his new guitar or catching passes for the Seahawks, Metcalf has weekly ASL classes online via Zoom. The classes are on the one day off NFL players get during a normal, Sunday-to-Sunday game week.
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His instructor lives in Tennessee. He is deaf.
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“I started Week 1 (this season, in early September),” Metcalf said. “My teacher, we talk over Zoom once a week every Tuesday. His name is Darrell Utley, from Tennessee. Met him, his wife.
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“He’s told me he has two daughters, so it’s just been very fun just to see him smiling every time we interact or anytime I know something that he’s signs to me. I can see just his smile light up.”
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Metcalf is seven lessons in with Utley. The wide receiver’s representatives connected them this summer.
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“He’s a great dude,” Metcalf said.
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They’ve yet to meet in person. Metcalf plans to change that this month.
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The Seahawks play in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans on Christmas Eve.
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“I was going to try and invite him to the game,” Metcalf said.
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“I think it’s just great that I get to learn something new. I get to challenge myself to learn something new, and also just to bring light to a community who I didn’t know felt unseen or felt like they were being forgot about. Just shedding light on the ASL community, the deaf community to where more people are starting to learn ASL.”
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Metcalf loves the attention his unique celebration in the end zone in Dallas last week has brought at ASL.
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“(People are) starting to take heed, to ‘All right., what is he going to sign next or what is he signing?’” he said. “The curiosity factor comes in to where it’s bringing attention to the language of ASL, which many people did not know about.
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“I think it started out as me trying to learn something new. And then the reffing thing kind of got thrown into the mix to where it kind of turned into trash talk, but no I’m trying to learn a new language simply put.”
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Oh, yeah, the “reffing thing.”
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A way to avoid flags
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Metcalf has been the most penalized wide receiver in the NFL the last few seasons. Many of those penalties have been after plays and for taunting and woofin’ at opposing players.
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Using a language opponents and officials who throw penalty flags don’t know has a side benefit of keeping him out of trouble with referees.
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“Actually, a ref came up to me and was like ‘Are you good?’ I was like ‘Yes, sir,’” Metcalf said.
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“He was like, ‘Just don’t sign anything today.’”
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Metcalf’s response: “I got you.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2023, 5:00 AM.
Greg Bell is the Seahawks and NFL writer for The News Tribune. He is a two-time Washington State Sportswriter of the Year, voted by the National Sports Media Association in January 2023 and January 2019. He began covering the NFL in 2002 when the Oakland Raiders beat the writer for The Sacramento Bee. The Ohio native began covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season in 2005. In a previous life, he graduated from West Point and served as a tactical intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, so he might ask you to stop and give him a 10.
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf has been making waves both on and off the field with his recent decision to incorporate sign language into his touchdown celebrations. Metcalf’s displays of sign language have not only been a source of inspiration for the deaf and hard of hearing community, but have also sparked conversations about the importance of inclusivity in sports. In response to Metcalf’s efforts, a local American Sign Language (ASL) group has expressed their gratitude and support for his actions, hoping to see more positive representation of the deaf and hard of hearing community in the sports world.