Steelers Have Ridiculous 100 Million Dollar Lawsuit Filed Against Them

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf set the NFL world ablaze after an altercation with a fan during the Steelers' Week 16 victory against the Detroit Lions. Not only did the altercation dampen the Steelers' victory, but Metcalf was also suspended by the NFL for the final two games of the regular season, putting the team's playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Steelers overcame this adversity to win the AFC North title in a thrilling Week 18 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, which seemed to put the Metcalf story behind them as they still made the playoffs and would regain Metcalf for the postseason. However, the fan who was in the altercation with Metcalf had other ideas.

Ryan Kennedy, the fan with whom Metcalf got in the altercation, is seeking over $100 million in damages, as well as court-ordered public retractions and corrections from the defendants through the same channels where the statements were originally published. It's a bold move by Kennedy, who is not only suing Metcalf, but also Chad Johnson, Shay Shay Media LLC, and Ford Field Management LLC, among others. 

Kennedy has a vastly different account of what transpired, stating that he was only calling Metcalf by his full name, DeKaylin Zecharius Metcalf, and participating in ordinary crowd cheering and heckling. However, Johnson stated on his podcast that night that Kennedy was, in fact, using racial and misogynistic slurs at Metcalf and that he heard this from Metcalf directly. After the podcast, the story took off into another dimension, with it becoming the top story in all of sports for several days.

Kennedy's attorney, Joe Marko, shared his thoughts on the matter on Tuesday. 

"The N-Word is the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in the English language," Kennedy's attorney stated. "No other word expresses so much hatred and bigotry.  Falsely accusing someone of using that word hurts not only the person falsely accused, but hurts every true victim of racial hatred and bigotry."

What makes this situation tricky is that, as of now, there's no evidence as to what Kennedy said. Somehow, in a world where seemingly everything is on camera, there is no clear video of the interaction, and the audio is unclear. More importantly, what was said prior to that may have caused this reaction. 

Steelers' Metcalf Not The Only Notable Name In Lawsuit

Something else that hasn't gotten enough attention pertaining to this story is that Metcalf is not the only notable name in the lawsuit as mentioned. From Chad Johnson to Ford Field Management LLC, the lawsuit claims that due to Metcalf's history of being involved in altercations, Ford Field should have known and protected Kennedy. Kennedy also claims that he suffered both extensive economic and non-economic damages as a result of the fallout of the altercation.

Something notable in the lawsuit: "Defendants have failed to issue any public retractions or corrections acknowledging that Plaintiff Kennedy never used racial slurs or hate speech." While this is certainly a creative attempt at framing this by Kennedy's legal team, neither Metcalf, Johnson, or anyone else named, has felt the need to address this publicly and pour fuel on the fire. In fact, the only one to hold a press conference on this was Kennedy and his legal team. Whether this is an attempt at a money grab or a legitimate case remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see how long this lingers and if it is still a story later in the year as we head into training camp.

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