Baltimore Ravens Release Kicker Justin Tucker Amidst Allegations

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00:00Justin Tucker yeah the all-world all-pro kicker for the Baltimore Ravens released yesterday by

00:05the Ravens organization and what GM Eric DaCosta is calling strictly a football decision now Justin

00:13Tucker who has spent all 13 years of his NFL career with this Ravens organization is coming

00:18off by far the worst year of his career in 2024 but of course that is just a part of this story

00:24Tucker currently under investigation by the National Football League as 16 different women

00:29have accused him of sexual misconduct in terms of massage therapy sessions around the greater

00:35Baltimore area so under NFL investigation but the Ravens organization saying this is strictly

00:41a football decision what did you make of the move DRS and the reasoning behind I don't mind the move

00:47itself from a football decision if that's what they're calling we'll get that in a second because

00:51it's pretty clear that he's the best kicker of all time but really fell off for the past two years I

00:54mean kicks that would be like okay cross midfield that's an automatic three points now we're like

00:58can even make extra points at this point but understand this too football teams are very

01:02calculated and something has to do with like hey I want to make this move but let me contact

01:07our lawyers here of how we need to word this so we don't get a lawsuit back and then you say to

01:11yourself no no no no we've seen this before where guys get in legal trouble fights domestic violence

01:16gun charges and if you're not a great football player you're released immediately Ben and what do

01:20they say to that franchise we will not allow this to ever happen again on our franchise we are zero

01:25tolerance but now for the past two years you're hearing some of these rumors like yeah we'll play

01:29it by ear and you even heard them say just a few months ago we're going to let the legalities play

01:34out until you get that crescendo from the fan base that goes is this worth the trouble we're going to

01:38run this guy out here where he's going to have these allegations probably continuously pop up and

01:42is he worth the trouble understand this if he made all his kicks last year he would have been

01:46worth the trouble no matter what he was doing off the field until he was convicted here but I look at it

01:50and say just be honest with us we're releasing Justin Tucker a lot of things going into us is it

01:55football yes is it off the field yes we wish him well and so be it so you know what I can deal with

02:00that but the fact that they came out and said you know what we waited this long because it's just a

02:04football decision you know what a football decision does the minute the season ends he's cut immediately

02:07here and you postmark it for June 1st and you live with it this was not a strictly football decision

02:12as the Ravens are playing it and they tried to make it seem as such here's a statement from GM Eric

02:17DaCosta about the decision to release Justin Tucker after 13 years with the organization

02:22sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult and this is one of those instances

02:27considering our current roster we have made the tough decision to release Justin Tucker

02:31Justin created many significant and unforgettable moments in Ravens history his reliability focus

02:36drive resilience and extraordinary talent made him one of the league's best kickers for over a decade

02:41we are grateful for Justin's many contributions while playing for the Ravens we sincerely wish

02:47him and his family the very best in this next chapter of their lives which again if it is just a

02:52football decision you thank the guy for what he has done for nearly a decade and a half in your

02:57organization was it but it does seem a little bit nearsighted the arrest for a guy that hey he has not

03:02been proven anything right now inappropriate behavior are the allegations against him and currently under

03:08investigation by the NFL nothing has been charged against Justin Tucker at this moment he does not face any

03:15discipline or punishment at this current time from the National Football League office but with that

03:20said he's still under investigation there are ways to handle this from a public standpoint knowing you

03:26are going to have this with all the notoriety it's a little bit different than the statement released by

03:30the Ravens yeah absolutely and understand this what a football decision means like he didn't go from

03:34the best kicker of all time which he was to the worst kicker in the NFL he's an average kicker

03:38if this was a football decision that came out and said you know what for what we're getting and how much

03:42money he makes we asked him to restructure he said no we let him go that's a football decision

03:46but you know where this is going to creep into Ben Justin Tucker gets released today and here's the

03:50opportunity where if it was really a football decision or not I don't think anybody else picks

03:54him up not because he can't still kick a football but they don't want the baggage that comes along

03:57with a kicker who's not the greatest of all time anymore and that's what clouds the situation

04:02do I applaud the Ravens for getting rid of him no you should have got rid of him when the

04:05allegations came up or at least came out with a strong statement we vehemently disagree what's going on

04:09right now we have to let the legal discourse play out we'll let you know what a

04:12further date and the further date should have been like yeah the legalities are playing out

04:15we just don't understand what's going we have a zero conduct policy here in our organization

04:19but they just come out and say hey you know what that's me hey you know what I saw him last week

04:24he missed a 47 yarder practice at the facility we're just going to let him go that didn't happen

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