Kelce still isn’t dealing with Tucker’s AFC title game pregame routine,
There has already been plenty said about Sunday’s AFC Championship pregame incident involving Justin Tucker, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Tucker has told his side of the story, and Patrick Mahomes has too. Now Kelce also has a story to share.
On the “New Heights” podcast Wednesday, Kelce explained what happened with Tucker prior to the Chiefs’ victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Tucker, who typically kicks on the opponent’s side of the field, was just doing his pregame routine.
Kelce wasn’t having it.
“If you want to be a f—ing d–k about it, you keep your helmet and your football and your f—ing kicking tee right where the quarterbacks are warming up,” Kelce said on the podcast. “If you’re not going to pick that up, I’ll happily move that for you.”
Kelce did apologize for his reactions, even though he also said Tucker winked at him as he was warming up on their side of the field.
“If you’re going to be a d–k, I promise you I can one-up you every time,” Kelce said.
Tucker explained his side of the story after the loss, including what led to the pregame incident between him and Kelce, which he didn’t think was a big deal.
“I find it kind of silly that we’re even having to address it or talk about something that happened before the game,” Tucker said Monday, via a Ravens transcript. “I think if you see the whole interaction, and then you see us at the coin toss – we’re all dapping each other up and then we just get on with the football game.
“For those who don’t know, the way it works is each team’s kicker goes to the other team’s designated warm-up area on the field – and for me, it’s usually about 90 minutes before kickoff – and I’ve been doing the exact same thing for 12 years, and never really had a problem with anybody … But that’s just kind of the way we’ve always done it and the way kickers around the league have always done it.”
So what triggered the confrontation with Kelce? Mahomes asked Tucker to move his helmet when he was warming up.
“I happily got up and I moved my helmet out of the way – at least I thought it was enough out of the way,” Tucker said. “And then Travis [Kelce] comes over and he just kicks my stuff and he throws my helmet … I thought it was all just some gamesmanship, you know, all in good fun, but they seemed to be taking it a little bit more seriously.
“I’m totally willing to let it all go, but I just wanted to explain that that’s just what I have done for 12 years and it’s not like I’m out there trying to be problematic. I’m just out there trying to get ready for the football game, just like they are. And that’s all I’ve really got to say about it, just to be clear.”
Again, there’s two sides to every story.