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Patrick Mahomes calls out Ravens K Justin Tucker for trying to ‘get under our skin’ in pregame kicking feud

Patrick Mahomes is still upset over Justin Tucker’s warm up ahead of the AFC championship game

Ryan Young
Staff writer
·3 min read
1.8k

The Patrick Mahomes-Justin Tucker feud isn’t going away, and it’s apparently nothing new, either.

Mahomes, days after he was involved in a bit of an altercation with Tucker ahead of their win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game, finally responded to the Ravens kicker. According to Mahomes, he and Tucker have a bit of a history.

“I’ve had seven years of doing the same warm-up routine, and there’s only been three occasions where a kicker wasn’t necessarily moving out of the way … It was in Baltimore all three times,” the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback said on Tuesday.

The Mahomes-Tucker warmup feud

The incident in question took place before the Chiefs’ 17-10 win over the Ravens on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Mahomes was seen multiple times kicking Tucker’s ball holder out of the way when the two were trying to warm up ahead of the conference championship game.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce then got involved, too. After Tucker set his helmet and two balls near the same spot on the goal line as before, Kelce walked over and tossed everything to the side to clear a path for Mahomes.

Tucker just laughed in the background.

Tucker, who said it’s normal for kickers to warm up in both end zones to get a feel for the stadium and the conditions, said he thought Mahomes and Kelce were just having fun initially.

"I’ve been doing the exact same thing for 12 years, never had a problem with anybody," Tucker said Monday. "I saw Patrick there trying to warm up and get some dropbacks. He asked me while I was on the ground stretching if I could move my helmet.

"I happily got up and moved my helmet out of the way, at least I thought it was enough out of the way. And then Travis comes over and he just kicks my stuff, he throws my helmet. I thought it was all just some gamesmanship, all in good fun. But they seemed to be taking it a little more seriously."

Patrick Mahomes is still upset over Justin Tucker’s warm up ahead of the AFC championship game
Patrick Mahomes is still upset over Justin Tucker’s warm up ahead of the AFC championship game. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Mahomes, however, said Tuesday that he thought Tucker’s moves were completely intentional.

"He does that to get under our skin.'' Mahomes said, via ESPN. "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."

After their win on Sunday, Mahomes and the Chiefs will advance to the Super Bowl to take on the San Francisco 49ers. Though the conditions inside Allegiant Stadium will be much different than they were outside in Baltimore last weekend, expect 49ers kicker Jake Moody to take warm-up kicks at both ends of the field come Super Bowl Sunday.