Ravens’ Justin Tucker plays down his fight with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce
Justin Tucker, the kicker for the Baltimore Ravens, has warmed in before sports the same way for 12 years and has never had a problem. That is, until the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
About two hours before the game, Travis Kelce, the tight end for the Chiefs, and Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback, didn’t like Tucker stretching near where Mo was warming up.
Several videos showed Mahomes throwing Tucker’s kicking tee away twice, and then Kelce kicking several of Tucker’s footballs to the side and throwing Tucker’s helmet away from the field.
Tucker stated Monday, a single day following the Ravens lost to the Chiefs 17–10. “I just thought that it was all in fine fun,” he said. “But it seemed like more thought went into it.” “I’m ready for me to let everything go now.”
Tucker, who was the most precise kicker in NFL history, said that kickers all over the league consistently do this to get ready for games.
The kickers will try both goalposts more than once to get a feel for the winds and the field. Tucker was told by Mahomes that he was able to rotate his helmet.
Hawkins was dropping back on Sunday near his goal line, where Tucker was his helmet, kicking tee, and three kicking balls.
“So I happily got up and I put my helmet out of the way,” he said. “At least, I think it was sufficient out of the way.” The person said, “I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
Tucker said that Kelce and Mahomes were “two of the best players in the history of the game at their positions.”
He agreed that it was a tough place to be, but he thought it was “silly” that he had to talk about something that went before the game.
“I think you’ll just see the whole interplay and then you only see us at the throw of the coin — we’re all dapping on one another up and then we simply carry on with the football game.”
At M&T Bank Park on Sunday, about 90 minutes beforehand the game for the AFC Championship was set to start, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Justin Tucker got into a fight near the end zone.
Tucker is an experienced kicker for the Ravens. Videos show him setting up nearer the goal line when the Chiefs had been warming up.
That’s when Mahomes threw Tucker’s kicking tee out of the way a few times. Then Kelce was seen kicking Tucker’s footballs and helmet out of the way.
Soon after, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a wide receiver for Kansas City, kicked a holder over close to Tucker. Some people, like Tucker, saw it as “gamesmanship,” yet the Chiefs didn’t.
“I thought it was all in good fun and gamesmanship, but they seem to be taking it a little more seriously. I’m ready to allow it all go,” Tucker said Monday in the locker room as the players were packing up their stuff.
The Chiefs won 17–10 and will play in the Super Bowl. Even though they had the best record in the NFL during the regular season, the Ravens’ season ended early. They were only one win away from the Super Bowl.
Tucker said that he has been doing the same thing before every game for 12 years. From before the game until the end of the AFC crown game, players on both teams were yelling at each other and sometimes got physical.
“I just wanted to clarify that that’s what I’ve been doing for 12 years and I’m not trying to be a bother,” Tucker said. Tucker did score a field goal during the loss. “I’m just trying to get prepared to attend the football match just like they are.”
Kyle Van Noy of the Ravens got in trouble for hitting Mahomes in the head, and Zay Flowers got in trouble for taunting during a key offensive possession. The Ravens’ Roquan Smith was penalized 15 yards for a rough play on the Chiefs’ receiving line late in the game.
The person said, “I don’t think it’s a big deal.” “I think if you just see the whole interaction afterward you just determine us at the coin toss — we’re every dapping each other up and then we proceed to carry on with the football game.”