Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker discussed the dust-up with Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce as they prepared for the offseason earlier this week.
Before the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship Game, Tucker attempted to warm up between Mahomes and Kelce but was moved from the goal line, Fox News reported.
Mahomes tossed Tucker’s ball holder and Kelce moved Tucker’s helmet and gloves from the goal line.
While addressing the “silly” incident a day after the Chiefs’ 17-10 victory, Tucker said that he doesn’t see it as “a big deal”.
He said: “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 about 90 minutes before kickoff.
“I’ve been doing the exact same thing for 12 years, never really had a problem with anybody. That’s kind of the way we’ve always done it.”
He recalled Mahomes warming up and performing dropbacks when he asked if Tucker could move his helmet which he did.
However, Tucker revealed that Kelce then kicked and threw it away.
Meanwhile, Mahomes told 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City: “I’ve had seven years of doing that same warmup routine and there’s only been like three occasions where there’s been a kicker that wasn’t … moving out of the way. It was in Baltimore all three times.”
Mahomes added: “(Tucker) does that to get under our skin. I asked him to move his stuff and he got up and moved it I think two inches but didn’t move it out of the way.
“I was going to let it slide but Travis moved it for me and after that I wasn’t going to let him put it back down.
“I have a lot of respect for him as a player and as a kicker. He’s one of the best kickers of all time, probably the best kicker of all time. At the same time, you’ve got to have respect for each team. We all share the field and we try to do that in a respectful way.”
Tucker said that he “thought it was all just some gamesmanship, all in good fun, but they seemed to be taking it a little bit more seriously.”
Tucker said he was willing to let bygones be bygones after the little tiff.
“They were just trying to get ready for the football game. Obviously, it’s an intense environment, so it’s really whatever to me, man. I’m just trying to get ready for the football game.”
