The pregame warmups before Sunday’s AFC Championship Game featured a brief issue between Ravens kicker Justin Tucker and a pair of Chiefs.
Video from the stadium showed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes warming up in one of the end zones while Tucker stretched nearby. Mahomes kicked Tucker’s tripod for holding the football as he practiced kicks away and tight end Travis Kelce was also seen flinging Tucker’s helmet and practice balls out of the way.
On Monday, Tucker called the incident “kind of silly” and said it was a first for him in his career.
“I’ve been doing the exact same thing for 12 years, never really had a problem with anybody,” Tucker said, via Jerry Coleman of 100.7 The Bay. “That’s just kinda the way we’ve always done it, the way kickers around the league have always done it. I saw Patrick there trying to warm up and get some drop backs. 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, throws my helmet. I thought it was all just some gamesmanship, all in good fun but hey seemed to be taking it a little more seriously.”
Tucker noted that the players all interacted without further issue during the coin toss and both the Ravens and Chiefs have bigger things to think about as they move forward from Sunday’s 17-10 Kansas City win.
