There’s a legendary story about former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan telling one of his quarterbacks to throw a ball in warmups at former Raiders owner Al Davis when Davis wouldn’t leave the Broncos’ side of the field. Shanahan and Davis had a falling out when Shanahan was Davis’ head coach in 1988 and 1989, and Shanahan therefore felt that he was well within his rights to make Davis dodge out of the way — after which, word is, Davis gave Shanahan the old one-finger salute.
What happened on the field at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium before the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens face off in the AFC Championship game, but it was a bit chippy. As Patrick Mahomes started to warm up, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker was a bit in the way. So, Travis Kelce — Mahomes’ bestest buddy — took Tucker’s football and helmet, and threw them out of the way so that Mahomes had more clearance to get his reps in.
From James Palmer of the NFL Network:
Travis Kelce told Justin Tucker he needed to move because their QB Patrick Mahomes had to warm up. So Kelce kicked his ball away and threw his helmet. 😂 pic.twitter.com/pFF0DC1yA7
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 28, 2024
We’re unsure if this will have any real-time ramifications in the actual game, but we’re all in favor of a little edge going into such an important contest.