For rookie kicker Justin Tucker, his first few weeks in the NFL have been quite the whirlwind. As he begins his professional career, Tucker will play four games in 17 days – three of which will be on primetime.
Tucker is no stranger to the spotlight. While playing under Mack Brown at the University of Texas, Tucker’s most notable kick came as time expired last Thanksgiving. From 40-yards away, Tucker split the uprights in the final moment to beat long-time rival Texas A&M.
This past Sunday, Tucker’s first career game-winner of his young professional career barely snuck by the right upright as the Ravens beat the Patriots 31-30.
“Right as it hit my foot, I knew it was good,” he said. “Sure, it was close but the fact of the matter is, it was good.
The 27-yard attempt was critical enough as it meant the difference between a win or a loss, but for Ravens fans the pain that lingers from last year’s AFC Championship added even more pressure.
For Tucker, either he was going to be a hero or labeled as Billy Cundiff 2.0.
“I’ve got to do my best to block everything out and Morgan [Cox] and Sam [Koch] make my job pretty easy. You just have to have a poker face and knock it down.”
A poker reference is fitting because everyone knew what was up the preverbal (cutoff) sleeve of Patriots coach Bill Belichick. As time was winding down, everyone had the feeling the Patriots would call timeout before the snap.
Tucker, though, actually appreciates the mind game that comes with trying to “ice” the kicker.
“I like it just because I get an initial opportunity to [kick] it and get another 30-40 seconds to let everything soak in and get that extra focus.”
Following his clutch connection, Tucker was the first to be showered at the end of the game. He didn’t even make it off the field as Terrell Suggs met him with two Gatorade bottles filled with ice water.
As a native Texan, Tucker is used to sunny, 80 degree Christmas mornings and hasn’t had the opportunity to let his blood thicken yet to appreciate a nice late-September Baltimore night.
“It was pretty cold,” Tucker said.
Tucker’s abnormally scheduled first month as a professional will continue when the Browns face the Ravens on Thursday night. Even though it’s another game in primetime with the whole country watching, Tucker isn’t treating it any differently.
“For my own personal sake, I try to treat every practice week leading up to games the same,” he said. “The minute you start differentiating is when you start having slip-ups.”
The rookie hasn’t allowed himself much time to celebrate as his mind is already focusing on the next game.
“After we finished the game, I was champing at the bit to get in the playbook, get into meetings and I’m excited about the short week,” he said. “That’s the only way you can approach it, you’ve just got to be pumped up and ready to go the minute after a game is over.”
Tucker is used to hearing John Harbaugh preach about stacking good days on top of each other. He should take this advice to heart. In a position that is just as much mental as it is physical – and one where we’ve seen kickers go from reliable to completely erratic in seemingly no time at all – a grounded day-by-day approach is a key to long-term success.
