There was a weird pregame dustup between Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker and Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce prior to the AFC Championship Game.
Tucker was apparently doing his pregame warmups in the designated visitor’s area, prompting Mahomes to tell him off. When he refused, people started getting into each others’ faces.
On Wednesday’s edition of the New Heights Podcast, Kelce explained what happened from his point of view. He said that while he acknowledged that kickers often use both sides of the field in warmups to gauge their distance, Tucker got too close to Mahomes and warned him to stay out of their way or else:
“If you’re trying to go onto the other team’s designated area, you kinda stay out of the way. You don’t interfere with what they have going on,” Kelce said. “If you want to be a (expletive) about it, you keep your helmet and your football and your (expletive) kicking tee right where the quarterbacks are warming up.”
Mahomes wasn’t too thrilled with Tucker either.
Earlier on #TheDrive with @cdotharrison Patrick Mahomes explained what happened in pregame with him, Justin Tucker and Travis Kelce.
FULL INTERVIEW: https://t.co/sxAe97rocQ pic.twitter.com/AUlV9Fkr1s
— 96.5 The Fan (@TheFan965) January 30, 2024
Justin Tucker wound up not playing a real factor in the game as he didn’t have a field goal attempt until the fourth quarter.
So all of that preparation and nearly getting into it with the opposing team was sort of for nothing in the end.