Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta broke his silence on the disturbing sexual misconduct allegations against veteran kicker Justin Tucker during his press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday (February 25).
“The allegations are serious and concerning, the amount of allegations are serious and concerning,” DeCosta said via the Ravens' official X account. “I think we’re fortunate that the league is doing an investigation. We’ll wait as patiently as we can, for as much information as we can, and we’ll make our decisions based on that.”
DeCosta said the team had already planned to explore draft options at the kicker position even prior to the allegations against Tucker being made public, which he said the team was made aware of just before the Baltimore Banner published its initial article in January and said the team would let the NFL's investigation play out before making a decision on Tucker's future.
Tucker was accused of sexual misconduct by 16 female massage therapists at eight spas and wellness centers throughout the Baltimore area, according to the newspaper. Three tweets shared by separate accounts in 2021 both specifically appear to accuse the kicker of wrongdoing at massage parlors, the Daily Mail reported that same day.
Tucker was accused of exposing his genitals and brushing two of the accusers with his exposed penis, as well as leaving a wet spot believed to be ejaculate during multiple incidents, according to the Baltimore Banner. The newspaper said it received a tip regarding the veteran kicker's alleged behavior and interviewed the six masseuses, all of whom gave similar accounts of the alleged incidents.
Tucker, who is married and has a son, shared a lengthy statement denying the allegations as "unequivocally false."
"Throughout my career as a professional athlete, I have always sought to conduct myself with the utmost professionalism," Tucker said. "I have never before been accuse of misconduct of any kind, and I have never been accused of acting inappropriately in front of a massage therapist or during a massage therapy session or during other bodywork. I have never received any complaints from a massage therapist, have never been dismissed from a massage therapy or bodywork session, and have never been told that I was not welcome at any spa or other place of business.
"In accusing me of misconduct, the article takes innocuous, or ambiguous, interactions and skews them so out of proportion they are no longer recognizable, and it presents vague insinuations as fact. This is desperate tabloid fodder."
Tucker is widely regarded as one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, having the highest field goal percentage in NFL history at 89.1% and 12th in field goals made with 417.