Ravens rookie kicker Justin Tucker continues to pack venues all around the Baltimore area celebrating his team’s Super Bowl victory and signing autographs for fans.
The undrafted free agent from the University of Texas was on hand last night signing autographs for fans at The Steakhouse on Joppa road in Parkville. The event was hosted by Pristine Graphs along with Prestige Memorabilia and LGC Sports Marketing. Over 200 fans came out to meet Justin, who has become a fan favorite in a short period of time.
“It is really cool to be able to connect with all of our supporters,” said Tucker when asked about meeting his fans. “To see them up close and in person as opposed to hearing them in the stadium is really neat. You get to shake hands and kiss babies and more than that it is great to connect with our fan base on a much more personal level.”
Tucker had a solid rookie season for the Ravens, making all 42 of his PAT attempts while missing only 3 out of his 33 field goals. He also hit two game-winning field goals in the regular season, one against the Patriots and the other against the Chargers. In a second-round playoff game against the Denver Broncos, Tucker kicked a 47-yard field goal in double-overtime to win the game and send the Ravens to the AFC championship for the second consecutive year. Although Tucker failed in converting the first fake field goal attempt in Super Bowl history against the 49ers, he did set a record for most rushing yards by a kicker in NFL history with eight.
When asked about what it has been like for him since the Super Bowl victory Tucker responded, “it has been a little bit of a whirlwind. It almost hasn’t really sunk in yet but it has definitely been a lot of fun and I cannot think of a better way to go through my rookie season in the NFL and with this organization winning a championship.”
Baltimore has not had such a relationship with a kicker since Matt Stover and Tucker seems to have earned his way into the fans’ hearts. “Baltimore loves to love our kickers and we finally have one again to love,” said Kathy Hollens, who names Tucker as her favorite player.
It was a fun night for all, including myself. Watching Justin with his fans I could not help but ask Justin to describe himself in one word.
His response?
“Chill. I am a man of the people. I am just out here having fun like everybody else shooting some basketball and chilling.”
Indeed. For a kicker – whose job can be a very stressful one – Justin Tucker is definitely a “chill” person.
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