The Kansas City Chiefs tight end joked on his podcast that he loved being painted as 'the bad guy for this.'
Don't make Travis Kelce out to be the "bad guy" in a situation where the other person was being a "f**king d**k." His words.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end addressed his and quarterback Patrick Mahomes' pregame spat with Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker ahead of the AFC Championship Game last weekend at M&T Bank Stadium. Cameras were rolling as Kelce, Mahomes and their teammates were trying to warm up, but Tucker's presence and his equipment were in the way.
"It was all over Twitter. I was at the game and I had multiple people text me in the middle of the game like, 'What's Travis doing? Why is Travis doing [this?]. And I'm like, 'Dude, you guys have no idea,'" said Kelce's co-host and brother, Jason, as he introduced the topic during Wednesday's episode of The New Heights podcast.
"I love how I'm being painted as the bad guy for this," the Chiefs star shot back.
Videos eventually started circulating on social media, showing Travis tossing Tucker's helmet and kicking tee out of the end zone where the Chiefs were warming up.
"For those of you that don't know what happens in pregames, the Ravens have their side of the field and the Chiefs have our side of the field. Now, specialists [like Tucker] because of the wind factor and they get a chance to kick at both field goals and kind of punt from both sides of the field," Kelce explained. "If you're trying to go onto the other team's designated area, you kind of stay out of their way. You don't interfere with what they have going on. That's the unwritten rule. If you wanna be a f**king d**k about it, you keep your helmet and your football and your f**king kicking tee right where the quarterbacks are warming up and they're dropping, eyes are looking left and they got a helmet down by their feet."
And that, Jason added, is what made the situation potentially dangerous for the likes of Mahomes.
After the Chiefs dispatched the Ravens, 17-10, to earn a trip to Super Bowl LVIII to face the San Francisco 49ers, Tucker was asked about the pregame spat. The longtime Ravens kicker told reporters he has a history of warming up on the opponent's side of the field and insisted he was not trying to be problematic. He added that he saw Mahomes trying to warm up and the quarterback asked him to move his helmet.
"So 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 and he throws my helmet," Tucker said. "I just thought it was all just some gamesmanship, all in good fun, but they seem to be taking it a little more seriously and I'm totally willing to let it all go."
Mahomes, however, had a very different story when he appeared on KCSP's The Drive Show on Tuesday.
"[Tucker] does that little stuff, I think, to try to get under our skin," Mahomes said. "I asked him to move his stuff. He got up and moved it, I think, two inches but didn't move it out of the way. I was gonna let it slide, but Travis got in and moved it for me. And after that, I wasn't gonna let him put it back down. I have a lot of respect for him as a player, one of the best kickers of all time, probably the best kicker of all time. But at the same time, you've got to have respect for each team, and we all share the field, and we try to do that in a respectful way."
Travis echoed those sentiments.
"If you're not gonna pick that up, I'll happily move that for you," he said. "Justin came out and he said it was more of a joking gesture and kind of a fun competitive. And I get it. He was kind of winking at me, like, being a d**k about it. Like trying to get under the skin. I get it. But me and Pat, we've been having the same mentality for this game all week long ... and we just weren't in a joking mood. We were ready to get after it. So, Justin. Sorry if we took it to a level that you didn't think it'd get to that level but if you're gonna be a d**k, I promise you I can one-up you every time."
But all's well that ends well. Like Mahomes, Jason went on to call Tucker -- a Super Bowl XLVII champion and five-time All-Pro and member of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team -- a "legendary kicker," but one who knows how to poke buttons. Travis anointed Tucker "arguably the best [kicker] we've ever seen in the NFL."
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