Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said Tuesday that the number of sexual misconduct allegations made against kicker Justin Tucker is “serious and concerning” but indicated that the team will wait before determining his future in Baltimore.
“I think we’re fortunate that the league is doing an investigation,” DeCosta said at the NFL scouting combine. “We’ll wait as patiently as we can for as much information as we can, and we’ll make our decisions based on that.”
This marked the first time a Ravens official has fielded questions about Tucker since accusations of inappropriate behavior first surfaced 26 days ago.
In total, 16 massage therapists from eight high-end Baltimore-area spas have made allegations of sexual misconduct against Tucker, according to The Baltimore Banner. All of the incidents reportedly occurred during sessions from 2012 to 2016, which were Tucker’s first five seasons in the NFL.
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Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the accusations against Tucker are “not what you want to wake up and read.”
“That’s what we’re waiting to try to do is reconcile it,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what the process is for. That’s why you’ve got to come to an understanding if you can, about what happened. We’ve all got questions, but nobody knows exactly what happened. So, let’s see where the review takes us.”
DeCosta was asked about the Ravens’ zero-tolerance stance for domestic violence, which Harbaugh referred to three years ago when asked about Deshaun Watson’s 11-game suspension following accusations of sexual misconduct with massage therapists. DeCosta echoed what then-Ravens president Dick Cass said in 2015, that there is no set policy, and the team will look at each case individually.
“There are no absolutes,” DeCosta said. “In this case, we’re still awaiting as much information as possible.”
DeCosta said he has spoken to the league in Baltimore and is not sure how long the NFL’s investigation will take. Investigators for the NFL have been in Baltimore speaking with some of the women who have accused Tucker of sexual misconduct, a source told ESPN last week.
According to DeCosta, the Ravens were unaware of any allegations against Tucker until the Banner contacted them about an investigative piece on Tucker, which was later published Jan. 30.
DeCosta acknowledged that he has spoken to Tucker.
“I’m going to keep those comments to myself … which I think is probably the smart thing to do,” DeCosta said. “But at some point, we did meet, and that’s what I’m going to say about that now.”
Harbaugh said he spoke with Tucker about a week and a half after the allegations surfaced.
“[It was] just more from a perspective of being together for all these years, kind of what he was going through … and how he handled it with his family,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh said Baltimore will be looking at kickers in the draft.
“We’re looking at every position, but I’d say the kicker position would’ve been a priority no matter what,” Harbaugh said. “Justin’s our kicker. We love him and I always expected him to keep going forever, but nobody goes forever.”
Tucker has denied any wrongdoing, issuing a statement on social media Jan. 30 in which he called the allegations “unequivocally false.”
He wrote that the initial Banner article “takes innocuous or ambiguous interactions and skews them so out of proportion that they are no longer recognizable. … This is desperate tabloid fodder.”
Tucker has been accused by the women of sexually inappropriate behavior that included exposing his genitals, brushing some with his exposed penis and leaving what they believed to be ejaculate on the massage table.
Tucker could be subject to discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy. At his news conference during Super Bowl week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the allegations against Tucker, saying, “They are obviously serious issues, and he is taking that seriously, as are we.”
Last week, in a statement to ESPN, a league spokesperson said, “We do not provide details or updates of the review process while investigations are ongoing.”
Tucker, 35, is a seven-time Pro Bowler who is the most accurate kicker in NFL history. He is the longest-tenured player on the Ravens and the last remaining player from their Super Bowl championship team in 2012.
