OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has warmed up before games the same way for 12 years and had never encountered a problem before, until Sunday's AFC Championship Game.
About 90 minutes before kickoff, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes objected to Tucker stretching near where Mahomes was warming up. Multiple videos showed Mahomes twice tossing Tucker's kicking tee aside and then Kelce kicking some of Tucker's footballs to the side and throwing Tucker's helmet off the field.
“I just thought it was all cleverness, all for fun,” Tucker said Monday, a day after the Ravens' 17-10 loss to the Chiefs. “But it seemed like they took it a little more seriously. I'm totally willing to let it go.”
Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, explained that this is how the league's kickers have always prepared for games. Kickers will take several attempts at both goal posts to feel the wind and playing surface.
On Sunday, Mahomes was doing his dropbacks near his own goal line, where Tucker had his helmet, his kicking tee and three kick balls. Mahomes asked Tucker if he could move his helmet.
“So I happily got up and moved my helmet out of the way,” Tucker said. “At least, I think it was enough to get out of the way.”
Tucker described Kelce and Mahomes as “two of the best players to ever play their respective positions.” He acknowledged that it was an intense atmosphere but thought it was “silly” to have to address something that happened before the game.
“I don't really see it as a big deal,” Tucker said. “I think if you watch the whole interaction and then you see us tossing the coin, we all congratulate each other and then we get on with the football game.”
