Travis Kelce Addresses Justin Tucker Controversy: 'He Was Poking the Bear'

Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker drew Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes into a mild controversy prior to the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

Tucker irritated the Kansas City Chiefs stars by placing his kicking gear on the Chiefs' side of the field and continuing to warm up next to Mahomes and Kelce. Kelce tossed the gear aside, and Tucker continued stretching with a smirk.

On the latest episode of the "New Heights" podcast, Kelce addressed the mini-controversy.

"I love how I'm being painted as the bad guy," Kelce said.

Kelce and his brother Jason went on to agree that there is an unwritten rule in the NFL that while kickers do sometimes need to go to the other team's designated area, "you kind of stay out of their way." If a kicker leaves gear in the way, it can be hazardous for players trying to warm up around it.

"If you want to be a f****** d*** about it, you keep your helmet and your football and your f****** kicking tee right where the quarterbacks are warming up, and they are dropping, eyes are looking left, and they have a helmet down by your feet," Travis said. "Like, if you're not going to pick that up, I'll happily move that for you."

The brothers agreed that Tucker knew what he was doing, and Jason noted that Tucker is "known for this."

"He knows how to poke the buttons," Jason said.

"And I get it," Travis said. "He was kind of winking at me, like being a d*** about it, trying to get under the skin. I get it. But me and [Patrick Mahomes], we've been having the same mentality for this game all week long, and it was, 'You have to go in there and have the right mindset,' 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 would get to that way, but if you're going to be a d***, I promise you I can one-up you every time."

For his part, Tucker told reporters the day after the game that he thought it was "gamesmanship, all in good fun."

"But it seemed to be taken a little more seriously," Tucker said.

Mahomes, however, agreed with Kelce's assessment of Tucker in an interview with 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City on Tuesday.

"I've had seven years of doing that same warmup routine and there's only been like three occasions where there's been a kicker that wasn't [...] moving out of the way," Mahomes told the station. "It was Baltimore all three times. [...] I asked him to move his stuff, and he got up and moved it I think two inches but didn't move it out of the way. I was going to let it slide, but Travis moved it for me, and after that I wasn't going to let him put it back down."

The Chiefs got the last laugh: They sent Tucker and the Ravens home with a 17-10 victory to advance to their second straight Super Bowl.

"Don't paint me as the bad guy, alright?" Kelce said. "He was poking the bear."