The father of murdered high school football star Austin Metcalf has hit out at commentators “monetizing” his son’s death as part of what he called the “moral decay of society.”
Metcalf, of Memorial High School in Frisco, Texas, was fatally stabbed by Karmelo Anthony at a track meet on April 2, 2025 following an altercation between the two teens during a rain delay.
Anthony was found guilty earlier this month and sentenced to 35 years behind bars but is currently mounting an appeal against the decision. Pundits have suggested the outcome was biased because the trial had a Black defendant but no Black jurors.
“People had their own opinions without even seeing the facts, and that’s the part I have trouble with,” Metcalf’s father Jeff told Fox News’s The Will Cain Show Monday.
“Unfortunately, in today’s moral decay of society that we’ve witnessed, people believe that if they have their own voice, they scream loud enough, they’re right,” he continued.
“They don’t know me. They don’t know Austin. They don’t know Karmelo. They’re looking for their 15 minutes of fame, or their clickbait or their clicks.
“They’re just looking to monetize the death of my son. I really wish they wouldn’t speak about it at all.”
In an emotional interview with Will Cain, Metcalf’s father hit out at Sonny Hostin of ABC’s The View, who has claimed Anthony did “not have a jury of his peers”.
Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, has also argued newly-released footage of the clash suggests there are grounds for a self-defense argument.
Metcalf said: “She has no idea on the facts of the case, but she wants to spew her public opinion on a platform that reaches millions of people everyday.
“She is completely wrong. And if they want [to] take me in, call me, ask them to be on The View with them, I would gladly – fly me up there and let me talk to all of you.”
Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett has also claimed that Anthony was victimised by a “broken system” and declared that a White defendant in his position would not have been found guilty in the same circumstances.
Metcalf insisted the tragedy was never about race, adding: “I don’t care what color you are, I want to judge you [on] how you treat people, what’s your character like.
“Your color makes no difference, it doesn’t determine your IQ, it doesn’t determine your faith, it doesn’t determine how much money you have,” he continued. “But your character shows who you are truly and that’s how I judge people.
“For a person to not be able to objectively look at something, use common logic, common sense, to come to a determination just based on merely the facts, not the color of one’s skin… That tells me a whole lot about your character if you choose that direction.”
Metcalf also lamented the moment he was expelled from a press conference hosted by Anthony’s parents on April 17 last year, saying he had attended in the hope of praying with them to “show this wasn’t a racial divide [and] that we can kind of close the gap rather than widening it.
“I was actually hoping to show them, ‘Hey look man, I know what happened was horrible and your son made a horrible mistake,’” he said.
“I was hoping for some accountability maybe and some remorse – and neither one was shown.”
