Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has broken his silence on the dramatic pregame incident that took place before Sunday’s AFC Championship Game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs.
A video of Tucker stretching near the end zone went viral ahead of the contest as Patrick Mahomes took exception to the kicker’s equipment being in the way before Travis Kelce threw it away.
While kickers get reps in on both ends of the field sometimes, the fact that Tucker was smiling suggests he was simply messing with the Chiefs and trying to get into their heads before things got underway. Clearly, it didn’t work as the Chiefs kept their offense at bay for most of the game.
Tucker explained the whole thing while clearing out his locker on Monday, per The Washington Post, insisting he wasn’t trying to go over the top to upset the Chiefs.
“The way it works is each team’s kicker goes to the other team’s designated warmup area on the field,” he explained. “For me, it’s usually about 90 minutes before kickoff. I’ve been doing the exact same thing for 12 years. Never really had a problem with anybody…
“I saw Patrick there trying to warm up and get some dropbacks. He asked me while I was on the ground stretching if I could move my helmet. I happily got up and I moved my helmet out of the way—at least I thought it was enough out of the way—and then Travis comes over and just kicks my stuff and throws my helmet.
“I thought it was all just some gamesmanship, all in good fun, but they seemed to be taking it a little more seriously.”
Some analysts are of the view that the Chiefs set the tone by throwing Tucker’s equipment as it suggested that they didn’t come to get pushed around and meant business. They will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on February 11.
