Travis Kelce is still shaking off an awkward encounter he had with Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker before their teams played each other in Sunday’s AFC championship game.
During Wednesday’s episode of his “New Heights” podcast, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end addressed the now-viral incident that was caught on video.
Kelce was seen kicking and tossing footballs and throwing Tucker’s helmet off the field away from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was warming up in that area. Tucker, who was stretching nearby, watched Kelce throw his equipment aside.
The Chiefs tight end said on “New Heights” that he was being “painted as the bad guy” in the incident, but that Tucker was “being a dick.”
He explained that the Chiefs and the Ravens were both warming up on their respective sides of the field, but that it’s typical for someone in Tucker’s position to get ready for the game on the opposing team’s side, since kickers need to consider factors like the wind. But, Kelce said, there’s some etiquette involved.
“It’s always... if you’re trying to go onto the other team’s designated area, you kind of stay out of their way,” Kelce said. “You don’t interfere with what they have going on.”
Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, who co-hosts the podcast with his younger brother, chimed in: “That is the unwritten rule.”
“If you want to be a fucking dick about it, you keep your helmet and your football and your fucking kicking tee right where the quarterbacks are warming up,” Travis said.
Jason Kelce then suggested that what Tucker did was “actually kind of dangerous.”
Travis later claimed that Tucker was “kind of winking at me, being a dick about it, trying to get under the skin.”
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Tucker can be heard telling reporters his side of the story after the game, which the Chiefs won 17-10.
Tucker said he was stretching on the Chiefs’ side of the field when Mahomes asked him to move his gear. He said he “happily got up” and did so.
“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 he just kicks my stuff and he throws my helmet,” he said. “I just thought it was all just some gamesmanship, all in good fun, but they seem to be taking it a little bit more seriously.”
“I’m totally willing to let it all go,” Tucker continued, adding that he wasn’t “trying to be problematic.”
Mahomes also weighed in on the pregame debacle, telling 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City on Tuesday, per ESPN, that Tucker was trying to get under the Chiefs players’ skins.
“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,” Mahomes said of Tucker. “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 quarterback then sang Tucker’s praises as an athlete, calling him “one of the best kickers of all time.”
The Kelce brothers also lauded Tucker’s skills on the field during their podcast. Travis Kelce said Tucker was “arguably the best we’ve ever seen in the NFL.”
Kelce and the rest of the Chiefs probably won’t be dwelling on Tucker’s behavior much longer. The team is set to face the San Francisco 49ers in the 2024 Super Bowl on Feb. 11.