OWINGS MILLS — Ravens kicker Justin Tucker was not interested in giving the Kansas City Chiefs any bulletin board material when the teams meet in the NFL opener on Thursday night.
Tucker had an aggressive exchange with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce about 90 minutes before the AFC Championship Game kickoff last season. Kelce and Mahomes took exception to Tucker stretching close to where they were warming up on the Chiefs’ side of the field.
At one point, Mahomes tossed aside Tucker’s kicking tee. Moments later, Kelce kicked away some of Tucker’s footballs off to the side and tossed the kicker’s helmet off the field.
Tucker has been doing the same routine for 12 years, where he kicks on both sides of the field during warmups. He said he never had a problem with other teams, but he had no interest in revisiting the situation after practice on Sunday.
“All I’ll say about it is I’m excited to go into a great environment, play against a great football team, with great players, great coaches, and do everything I can to prepare myself to be ready to contribute to the Ravens winning a football game,” Tucker said. “That’s all I got to say about it.”
The Chiefs saw the situation differently and Mahomes accused Tucker of gamesmanship. The Chiefs won the game, 17-10, en route to their second straight Super Bowl victory.
“He does that to get under our skin.” Mahomes told the Kansas City media after the game “I asked him to move his stuff and he got up and moved it I think 2 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.”
The situation adds more intrigue when the teams meet again on Thursday night.
