Kicker Justin Tucker is loved in Baltimore, for his personality, and his skill. But this might just make him even more endeared to most Ravens fans.
In the month of July, there is a down period between the early voluntary and mandatory camps, and the beginning of training camp at the end of the month. Some players may take this time to relax, kick back, or travel. But not Justin Tucker. He uses the time to hone his craft. And in addition, he does it in a fun way, including his fans in the action and bonding with them in a way that few athletes take the time to, let alone one who just tied the knot and returned from hi honeymoon,
Tucker invited fans to meet him for practice:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Patterson Park at 11:45am, today. Be there or be square!</p>— Justin Tucker (@jtuck9) <a href="https://twitter.com/jtuck9/status/619157633023537152">July 9, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big thanks to all the kids helping out at the field today! S/o to <a href="https://twitter.com/livingclassroom">@livingclassroom</a> too. Great to see so many of Bmore's kids being active!</p>— Justin Tucker (@jtuck9) <a href="https://twitter.com/jtuck9/status/619178005575921664">July 9, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kicking at Patterson in 20 if ya wanna help out! Bring some H2O for yourself cuz it's toasty out there!</p>— Justin Tucker (@jtuck9) <a href="https://twitter.com/jtuck9/status/620007445813927936">July 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kicking at Patterson Park today. Stay tuned and I'll let y'all know when I'm about 30 min out.</p>— Justin Tucker (@jtuck9) <a href="https://twitter.com/jtuck9/status/621283930394767360">July 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Heading to Patterson now, be there in about a half an hr! Come help out if u want!</p>— Justin Tucker (@jtuck9) <a href="https://twitter.com/jtuck9/status/621370772112715777">July 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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You get the point!
A pro athlete inviting his fans to come and hang out with him, and watch him while he practices is a great idea. I am unsure why other NFL athletes haven't tried it.
If you want to see how the turnout was at these impromptu sessions, here is a video:
<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/jtuck9">@jtuck9</a> found a new place to practice in the offseason. <a href="https://t.co/r7xDC1yPC1">https://t.co/r7xDC1yPC1</a></p>— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ravens/status/624291189244624896">July 23, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Go Justin Tucker! You win the off-season award for fan outreach.