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RENTON – Chris Cutcliffe laughs in memory now. Of course, Cutcliffe had heard of DK Metcalf for a while, but he did not know exactly what to expect when the enlarged eighth grade catcher came forward for a spring training session with him. football team from Oxford High School (Miss.).
Cutcliffe had just joined his alma mater to join the Oxford coaching team as a receiver coach, and it is better to believe that the first look at the young Metcalf left a lasting impression.
"He had grown so big so fast. He was in this gangrenous phase of baby-giraffe, "said Cutcliffe. "But looking at it then, you knew that athletics was there from an early age."
The next spring training session – the first minicamp training session rookie Friday at the Renton Seahawks – and Metcalf again impressed another new coach.
Pete Carroll was asked what excited him about the potential of Metcalf.
"Well," said the Seahawks coach, "it's as if it was not the case, you know?" I mean, he's tall and he's fast. He really has good feet, you know, and his firing range has been exposed today to begin with. "
Carroll added that Metcalf "could be even more unique than we thought" when the Seahawks recruited former Ole Miss receiver 6-foot-4 and 229-pound in the second round.
"You know," said Carroll, "never has a guy so fast and so powerful been so powerful and so strong in the handset, so he has all those things behind him, now he has to fight and find out how to play soccer. "
Cutcliffe does not doubt the fight of Metcalf.
"I have no doubt that he will do whatever they want to make it there," said Cutcliffe.
Cutcliffe served as Metcalf head coach for four years at Oxford High, and later became head coach after graduating from Metcalf.
Cutcliffe's father is David Cutcliffe, Duke's current head coach and Ole Miss's Oxford head coach from 1998 to 2004 – when Metcalf's father, Terrence, was a Rebels offensive lineman in the United States.
Terrence Metcalf played for the Chicago Bears for seven seasons and DK grew up in and around these NFL locker rooms.
Dad's advice when his son entered the Seahawks locker room for the first time this week?
"Just keep working. No matter what someone says, just keep working and be me, "said DK Metcalf on Saturday.
Cutcliffe said that the work ethic was what separated the catcher at Oxford High. Metcalf, a three-sport athlete, also played basketball and track and field – setting school records in triple jump and 110-meter hurdles.
"He wanted to be great. He wanted to be coached. He wanted to perfect every little aspect of the game, Cutcliffe said. "He was a phenomenal blocker as wide receiver and he played with pride for that purpose. There were a lot of little things like that that many guys of his talent would not do. "
The fact that Metcalf deviated from the first round and became number 64 could have been a reaction to his injury to Ole Miss. He broke a bone in the second game of his first season in 2016, then suffered a neck injury ending the season that required surgery in October 2018.
On Saturday, Metcalf said that the neck problem was "an abnormal injury and that it could happen to anyone at any time. I am completely healed and ready to go. "
Some also criticized Ole Miss's Metcalf journey, noting that he used mostly simple and deep routes to take advantage of his size – routes that will surely not work as well against NFL defenders.
Metcalf stated that he was able to make more complicated routes and that he had done so in practice, but that this type of game was not called in games.
During the NFL's construction, Metcalf spent time in Phoenix working with Jerry Sullivan, the 74-year-old receiver coach, described as "Mr. Miyagi "of running. Over the years, Sullivan has collaborated with Larry Fitzgerald of Arizona.
"One of the great coaches receivers of NFL history," Carroll told Sullivan.
From Sullivan, Metcalf learned better body posture techniques and how to get out of his way.
The goal, according to Metcalf, is "to make sure that all routes are the same when you leave the ball".
Metcalf, playing part-time, made several attractions on Friday.
He slipped out of a back road but managed to sit up and grab his knees. A few minutes later, at about the same place along the right line, he jumped high over a defensive back to catch the catch of the day.
"This guy is a monster," said Ugo Amadi, the Seahawks coach in Oregon in the fourth round, who also faced Metcalf in high school summer camps.
With Doug Baldwin's uncertain future and limited experience outside of Tyler Lockett, the position of the wide receiver is changing for the Seahawks. But at least one of his new coaches made a significant achievement after watching Metcalf in the Seahawks jersey for the first time.
"Yes," said Carroll, "it looks like he's ready to compete."
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