“You Wouldn’t Do That to Tom Brady”: Former Punter Pat McAfee Defends Patrick Mahomes Over Pre-Game Beef With Justin Tucker

Patrick Mahomes, like any athlete, was seen warming up before his clash against the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC title. However, something happened between Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker prior to the game that spread around the NFL world like wildfire. Kelce threw Tucker’s stuff out of the way, apparently because Mahomes had to practice his throws.

This caught the attention of Pat McAfee and he and AJ Hawke decided to have their take on the situation on The Pat McAfee Show. Travis Kelce’s play might have earned the Chiefs “the right to party” because he undoubtedly fought for it. But, for some, Kelce might have been out of order for his actions before the game. Yet, McAfee tried to justify the act by drawing comparisons with Tom Brady.

Pat McAfee sides with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce

The conversation in the excerpt begins with an interlude to the situation, followed by McAfee admitting that the players had the right to be wherever on the field before the game began. He then added by saying that the Ravens’ kicker might have a set practice ritual before the game, however, in this case, he wasn’t practicing kicking the ball. And it might have irked Travis Kelce to see Tucker’s stuff in the way, while his QB for practicing his throws.

In the attached video, Patrick Mahomes could be seen preparing for the game while the kicker of the opposition was stretching. Amidst his, Kelce came forth and moved Tucker’s stuff out of the way from the QB’s path, potentially not risking a chance of any injury.

McAfee addressed the same and brought up the point of not disturbing Patrick Mahomes, “because he is Patrick Mahomes”, possibly implying that it’s best to stay out of the way of a revered personality like the Kansas City Chiefs QB, along with not disturbing a practicing QB before a crucial clash. Without disrespecting anyone, McAfee pointed out how “you wouldn’t do that to Tom Brady” or even people like Peyton Manning for that matter.

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Per McAfee, the situation holds a lot of gravitas because Patrick Mahomes is almost a legendary QB, and the Chiefs wouldn’t want to risk a “rolled ankle” just because someone’s helmet was lying around, and he didn’t notice it. Kelce got a little backlash in the wake of all of this as people said that he disrespected the Ravens kicker.

Pat McAfee defends Travis Kelce as he gets hate online

People took this situation as a “bullying the weaker guy” scenario and McAfee pointed out how it’s even more disrespectful to dub Tucker the “weaker guy” in all of this. By the looks of it, Tucker was smiling and was fully aware of what happened and why it happened.

For a lot of people, this kind of provocation is done to get into the opponent’s head. This was a very high-stakes game and there might not have been much room for friendliness there. Or Maybe the Chiefs wanted to leave the Ravens with another chip on their shoulders, adding to the defeat.

Tone Diggs on the show defended Kelce by saying, “I saw a lot of people saying, you know, Kelce and Mahomes are being a******* to Justin Tucker. This is what makes playoff football, playoff football. I wish this happened in the Lions Niners game.” Even Pat McAfee added about loving the pettiness of the incident, claiming how it energizes the field in a sense.

It is pointed out that Kelce’s actions were out of protecting his QB and maintaining a competitive spirit. By the looks of it, his efforts indeed worked during the game!

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