Even before opening kickoff for the AFC Championship, which the Kansas City Chiefs prevailed 17-10 over the Baltimore Ravens, there was already some drama on the field. Chirping between the teams started in warmups with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker.
Tucker was doing some stretches by the end zone, with his kicking tee in front of him. In the same area, the Chiefs, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, were also warming up.
Kelce seemed to tell Tucker to move, and when the star kicker does not budge, No. 87 takes things into his own hands. Kelce kicked Tucker's ball and tossed his helmet and the other footballs to the side.
Tucker did not move despite his stuff being thrown to the side.
Here is a look at what went down:
Tucker has a history of warming up on the opponent's side of the field.
Things did not end there. Mahomes got involved, continuously tossing his tee aside while Tucker attempted to practice. Tucker looked frustrated, but did not move to a different part of the field.
After the game, Tucker addressed the situation and explained his side. He said he found it "kind of silly" to even discuss it, adding he didn't feel like it was "a big deal."
Tucker felt like there was no bad blood following the interaction, saying, "I think if you just 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 warmup area on the field. And for me it's usually about 90 minutes before kickoff so I've been doing the exact same thing for 12 years. Never really had a problem with anybody. But yeah, that's just kind of the way we've always done it and the way kickers around the league have always done it."
Tucker said he saw Mahomes trying to warm up and No. 15 asked the kicker 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 [Kelce] 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."
Tucker continued to emphasize that he is not "out there trying to be problematic."
"I'm just trying to get ready for the football game, just like they are … at the end of the day we're all professionals just trying to get ready for the football game," he said. "Those are two of the best players that have ever played the game at their respective positions, they're just trying to get ready for the football game. Obviously it's an intense environment so it's really whatever to me."
Mahomes addressed the incident Tuesday, saying that there's only been three occasions during which an opposing kicker refused to move when asked to during pregame warmups. All three times, Mahomes said, occurred in Baltimore.
"He does that little stuff, I think, to try to get under our skin," Mahomes said on "The Drive" on KCSP radio. "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."
Tempers were flying between other players, too, including Ravens cornerback Arthur Maulet, and officials had to get involved.
Kelce and Mahomes got the last laugh when they defeated Tucker and the Ravens to advance to Super Bowl LVIII. The big game will be played on Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m., broadcasted on CBS, with a family-friendly stream on Nickelodeon and streaming on Paramount+.