Cynics might suggest it's easy to have fun with quick and frequent success. But no one can argue what Tucker has meant to a Ravens franchise that, before his arrival, had already been blessed with two Pro Bowl kickers in Matt Stover and Billy Cundiff.
- He is the AFC's most accurate field-goal kicker of all-time and second-best in league history at 88.7 percent (through Week Four), topped only by Dallas' Dan Bailey (90.5).
- He reached the 500-point career mark faster than any kicker in NFL history, just 60 games. By one game, that eclipsed a record set by the only pure placekicker in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Jan Stenerud.
- Tucker claims 12 career game-winning kicks, including two on the road this season, a 49-yarder in Cleveland Sept. 18 and a 54-yard boot with 1:02 remaining to pull out the win in Jacksonville one week later.
- He has won six AFC Special Teams Player of the Week awards and, just last month, took home his third AFC Special Teams Player of the Month honor.
- Through Week Four, Tucker had missed only six times in his career in the fourth quarter and six times when the Ravens are trailing. He had also made all 144 extra-point tries, including 34 in a row after the nearly automatic 20-yard distance was moved back to 33 yards in 2015.
With such success comes an often harsh spotlight on pro athletes. But when someone is as multi-faceted and well-rounded as Tucker, it can also display the very best someone has to give. For him, that is plenty.
Since Tucker arrived in Baltimore as an undrafted free agent in 2012, he's become a familiar figure on Charm City's sports scene, flashing an eclectic (and entertaining) personality that's endeared him to fans and teammates alike.
The 26-year-old Tucker is an amalgam of Orioles outfielder Adam Jones' confidence, Baltimore Colts legend Art Donovan's shoot-from-the-hip sense of humor and former-Terps head coach Gary Williams' intensity. It would be no shock if Tucker could impersonate those three as well as he handles the unique vocal patterns of such diverse celebrities as businessman (and Republican presidential nominee) Donald Trump, Oscar-winning actors Christopher Walken and Matthew McConaughey, and former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, among many others.
In short, Tucker is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound bundle of energy, passion and charisma, not to mention accuracy.
"He's like a comedian," punter Sam Koch said. "You could be around [a] comedy tour, 24-7. Everything that comes out of his mouth is trying to make somebody laugh and have fun. He enjoys his time here, and that's good, because there are going to be times around here that things aren't fun. That's his attitude, his personality and his character."
While some might characterize placekickers, hockey goalies and relief pitchers as "flaky," that sobriquet doesn't fit Tucker at all. He does not embrace obscure philosophies and religions or draw inspiration from little-known pseudo-scholars claiming they have the answers to cure societal ills. A Ravens website headline from October 2012 said it all: "Lovable Weirdness."
Tucker is simply an extroverted guy with a wide variety of interests, such as comedy, music (his major at the University of Texas), television and volunteering to take part in the Ravens' many community-oriented initiatives. Last month, Tucker and running back Justin Forsett were spotted paying tolls for Fort McHenry Tunnel drivers dressed in full toll-collector gear.
"Why does anybody have to feel like they should fit into box x, y or z?" Tucker said. "We're people; we don't fit into boxes, or baskets, for that matter. So I'm of the thought that you should do what you like to do, and do everything you can to shine a light around others around you as well.
"I think it was kind of natural for me to take an interest in fine arts, especially in music. It wasn't anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe to somebody else looking in, when they say ‘football player' they want to peg me as a football player and say, ‘That's your role.' I've never been one to think that you should put a label on anybody for any reason."
Besides his family, no one is around Tucker more than his teammates, including linebacker and locker-room neighbor Zachary Orr, who is well-placed to testify to Tucker's tension-easing propensity.
Like Tucker, Orr was an undrafted player who had to work harder than most during his nascent days with the team. Today, Orr is the starting weak-side linebacker who enjoys Tucker's penchant for helping create the loose locker room that is a Ravens trademark.
"He's definitely one of those people that is going to break the tension," Orr said. "If it's quiet, you can definitely count on Tuck to say something. If Tuck's quiet, you know something is really, really wrong. Tuck can definitely be one of those guys when, if the mood is kind of down, he'll be able to pick everybody up."
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