From Bothell Deca to Bothell Catamount, almost everyone or everything at Bothell has an Instagram account. Some students have followers ranging from 100-1,000. @bothell.hs only has 1,622 followers but compared to metcalfsburner, a Bothell student-run account, that is a minuscule number. The metcalfsburner account (@metcalfsburner) has a rising 13,300 following and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. This account’s sole purpose is to create memes about football一specifically Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf (1.5 million followers). We were able to get exclusive access for an interview with this account’s creator. What we can tell you is that this student goes to Bothell High School full time while balancing a huge fan account. They are going to remain unnamed as to allow the account’s following to be people wanting the content, not following for the owner. We wanted to know what it takes to create an account, reactions to it, and how could a high school student create such a huge account.

Being able to speak to the account’s creator was very interesting, and we got to learn things that you wouldn’t expect to hear about an account like this. When asked why they created @metcalfsburner, they answered “I made it as a joke account, but during the summer I began posting more.” They pointed out that the off-season for football slows down growth, but as soon as the season starts back up, the account’s growth spikes back to what they considered normal, where people are constantly following to get new football information or some humor about the NFL. “I had an old meme account on Instagram that got deleted, then I created this account (@metcalfsburner).” Some could say it is good the other account was deleted because then we would have never gotten the amazing football content we get now. Although the account isn’t all fun and games, as they make money from posting and promoting other accounts. “I enjoy posting, I make money off the account so that’s a bonus, $55 off of one promotion.” 

The account has also been noticed by a few players in the NFL as well: DK Metcalf, a Seahawks wide receiver and subject of the account, AJ Brown, a Tennessee Titans wide receiver, and ex-Seahawk Richard Sherman. The interaction with Richard Sherman wasn’t that friendly though, as a photoshopped Twitter post of DK trash-talking Sherman made Sherman block the account. But the interactions with DK and AJ were both them re-posting something that @metcalfsburner had posted. When asked about what the future holds in terms of the account, they said “I plan to just continue posting, always gaining followers when the Seahawks are playing and the season is going. I hope to have 20 thousand followers by the end of this season.” And through having consistent postings and highly funny sports posts, 20 thousand seems like a likely number. Posting about sports and making jokes out of it isn’t all out of their goal, as they hope to be working in the sports analysis field when they’re older. 

We also got the chance to talk to a long time follower of the account Reece Williams (‘22), and why they like the account. “MetcalfsBurner is the greatest account on Instagram” he began the interview with, “It combines 2 of my favorite things: NFL and comedy.” He found the account through a fellow Bothell Student “over a year ago before it started to get popular.” Reece has also added to the account’s publicity by sharing it on his Instagram story “whenever the page talks about my favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings.” MetcalfsBurner also follows Reece, and many other Bothell students/accounts, including the Bothell High School account, @bothell.hs. Once in a while, you might even see some comments from @metcalfburner, on posts ranging from student of the week to announcements.

Another student named Tara Duong (‘22) also had a reasonably positive reaction to it. “I was junior of the week and they spammed the comments of that post. I thought it was so random. I was thinking the account was from Oklahoma! When I found out it was a student at Bothell that shocked me so much! I would not go as far as to say it’s cool (that’s not my type of humor) but it is definitely obnoxious in a good way!”

For the amount of effort put into this account I highly recommend checking it out. Seeing a Bothell student create a small side hustle while in school is certainly an impressive achievement for anyone! All high school students have big plans and we hope to see this account become even more popular. 

“One day I’ll have 1 million followers.” 

-@metcalfsburner’s owner, a local Bothell Student.