Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, Ravens’ Justin Tucker Squabble Before AFC Championship Game

The Chiefs tight end and Ravens kicker quibbled over warmup space.
Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, Ravens’ Justin Tucker Squabble Before AFC Championship Game
Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, Ravens’ Justin Tucker Squabble Before AFC Championship Game /

The Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens started clashing before the AFC championship game even kicked off on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. 

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who already made headlines thanks to his pregame outfit, appeared to take exception to the location Ravens kicker Justin Tucker chose to conduct his warmups, which was in close proximity to Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes

Kelce took matters into his own hands, grabbing Tucker's helmet and ball and tossing each piece of equipment away from the Ravens placekicker. Tucker, with an amused look on his face, continued to stretch in front of Mahomes, who was making warmup throws. 

Here's the moment, captured by NFL Network's James Palmer. 

And this wasn't even the first interaction that the Chiefs and Ravens stars had in the pregame, as Mahomes seemingly kicked Tucker's holder away, which prompted the two to have words, a conversation that Kelce then joined. 

It's not clear what's being said, but what is apparent is that the Chiefs and Ravens are engaging in some good, old-fashioned gamesmanship before what promises to be an entertaining title game.

Elsewhere during warm-ups, a second minor scuffle developed near midfield.

Get your popcorn ready, folks. 


Published
Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.