Ahead of this weekend’s AFC Championship showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, there was a small altercation between Ravens kicker Justin Tucker and Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. And this week, both Tucker and Mahomes gave their sides of the story.
The altercation took place when Justin Tucker seemed to be in the way of where Patrick Mahomes was trying to warm up. So when he didn’t move, Travis Kelce threw his helmet and tee to give Mahomes space.
During an interview this week, Tucker said that he was simply doing the same pregame routine he always does.
“For those that don’t know, the way it works is each team’s kicker goes to the other team’s designated warmup area on the field. For me, it’s usually 90 mins before kickoff. I’ve been doing the exact same thing for 12 years, never really had a problem with anybody,” Tucker told Baltimore Ravens beat writer Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.
Mahomes, meanwhile, said that Tucker is the only kicker who has ever refused to move like this and suggested that he does it on purpose.
“He does that little stuff, I think to try to get under our skin,” Mahomes said. “I asked him to move his stuff. He got up and moved it, I think, two inches but didn’t move it out of the way. I was gonna let it slide, but Travis got in and moved it for me. And after that, I wasn’t gonna let him put it back down. I have a lot of respect for him as a player, one of the best kickers of all time, probably the best kicker of all time. But at the same time, you’ve got to have respect for each team, and we all share the field, and we try to do that in a respectful way.”
Regardless of who was truly at fault, the feud between the two stars ignited a lot of conversation on social media.
Imagine being bothered by a kicker https://t.co/BxzTLc6KuE
— chris patterson (@chrisapatterson) January 30, 2024
There seemed to be only two people bothered by this and they weren't Justin Tucker…so it sounds like he succeeded https://t.co/Dqmwgx76OT
— Justin (@Tweets_ByJ) January 30, 2024
Whiny babies https://t.co/IqFcFjPA5K
— Joey Jo Jo (@hoejamilton) January 30, 2024
Watched this happen as they broadcast it… and knew the Chiefs were going to win… and I hate the Chiefs
— Jinx Janx 171 (@ZaneCar95096859) January 31, 2024
He’s a kicker. You’re soft if you even notice him.
— Jim Goard (@JGoard2) January 30, 2024
Would have showed more character for mahomes to just ignore it and move on rather than reply to the question. Ticket said he didn’t mean anything by it and that he always warms up there, but that he was happy to forget it and move on. But mahomes insists on having the last say.
— lightningmcqueenfan (@bolts10213) January 30, 2024
[Pro Football Talk, Jeff Zrebiec]
