Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is addressing the pre-game drama that went down ahead of the AFC Championship game on Sunday, January 28.
As you know, a video made its rounds on social media, which showed Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, stretching and warming up — but what many thought was odd was that Tucker was on the same side as the Kansas City Chiefs players, seemingly stirring up drama on purpose.
While Justin Tucker claimed he “wasn’t trying to be problematic,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes says otherwise.
Patrick Mahomes Comments On NFL Pre-Game Drama
After the video of the incident went viral, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is addressing the whole drama-filled situation.
“He does that little stuff, I think to try to get under our skin,” Mahomes said on The Drive on Audacy’s 610 Sports Radio.
He added, “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.”
James Palmer, the NFL Network analyst who first shared the video, claimed, “Travis Kelce told Justin Tucker he needed to move because their QB Patrick Mahomes had to warm up. So Kelce kicked his ball away and threw his helmet.”
While Mahomes called Tucker “one of the best kickers of all time, probably the best kicker of all time,” and he has “a lot of respect for him as a player,” he added, “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.”
Justin Tucker Claims Pre-Game Incident Was Not ‘Problematic’
Travis Kelce told Justin Tucker he needed to move because their QB Patrick Mahomes had to warm up. So Kelce kicked his ball away and threw his helmet. 😂 pic.twitter.com/pFF0DC1yA7
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 28, 2024
Justin Tucker recently claimed he “wasn’t trying to be problematic” and he was “just trying to get ready for the football game just like [Patrick and Travis] are.”
Tucker’s version of the story goes:
“I saw Patrick [Mahomes] there trying to warm up and get some dropbacks. [Patrick] asked me while I was on the ground stretching if I could move my helmet. I happily got up, and 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.”
The Baltimore Ravens kicker also says he “thought it was all just some gamesmanship, all in good fun, but they seemed to be taking it a little more seriously.”
Regardless, Patrick Mahomes is more than likely trying to look past the drama as he preps for the upcoming Super Bowl, where the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers.
Super Bowl LVIII airs on Sunday, February 11.
