By Bob Condotta

The Seattle Times

RENTON — Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf returned to his native Oxford, Mississippi, over the weekend not only with some stories to tell family and friends of his first five NFL games but also bearing one big surprise — a car for his mother, Tonya.

Metcalf’s mother’s birthday is later this month, and DK Metcalf knew exactly what she wanted — a Chevrolet Suburban truck.

“She was looking at one already,” Metcalf said.

So, while he was back home over the weekend, Metcalf and his mother visited a local dealership where he then surprised her with the news that the Suburban was hers to take home.

As evidenced in an Instagram video Metcalf posted — which had almost 100,000 likes by Monday afternoon — his mother “just cried and was very thankful,” as Metcalf put it.

Metcalf said the reasoning for the surprise was simple: “Just for being a great mom and being by my side for everything.”

Metcalf has a particularly tight bond with his family. His father, Terrence, played at Ole Miss and then spent seven year in the NFL playing 78 games with the Bears from 2002-08. When he was done playing, the family made its permanent home in Oxford.

One reason DK Metcalf chose to play at Ole Miss was so that he could remain close to his family — he has four other siblings.

A 2016 story produced by olemiss.edu detailed how Tonya Metcalf had returned to Ole Miss while DK was attending school there to get her Master’s degree — she had already earned a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences from Ole Miss in 2001.

“Anytime I want to get a home-cooked meal, I can just go home, and I know a lot of students don’t have the privilege to go back home to see their siblings or mom or grandma,” Metcalf said in the 2016 story. “It’s a blessing.”

A sentiment Metcalf said he wanted to make sure his mother understands he still feels even know that he is playing professionally thousands of miles away.

“I was happy just to you know give back to my mom,” he said. “I’m lucky and blessed just to be in the position to do something and try to bless the people around me.”