'This is my home': Justin Tucker says he's living out childhood dream in Baltimore in conversation with WJZ's Mark Viviano

BALTIMORE - Justin Tucker is just a Texas boy, living out his childhood dream in a city he has grown to love.

Tucker, one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, sat down for a one-on-one interview with WJZ Sports Anchor Mark Viviano ahead of Monday's primetime game against the New Orleans Saints.

Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. on WJZ, following a Purple Playbook preview show at 7:30 p.m.

The Ravens star kicker walked out for the interview with Viviano at The Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills while some of his teammates called him the "GOAT," or greatest of all time.

He doesn't let that moniker, or much pressure, get under his skin.

"I don't know if that is something we are all born with to handle big-stage, limelight moments, but maybe it comes more easily for some, and I think I may fall into that category. Maybe that is how I am wired," Tucker said.

Tucker signed as an undrafted free agent out of Texas in 2012.

He has the best field goal percentage in the history of the NFL, at 90.9 percent. He is 24th all-time in field goals made, and owns the longest field goal, of 66 yards against Detroit in 2021.

Tucker also has seven game-winning field goals with time expiring.

One of those blasts was a game-winning 43-yard field goal against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 9.

Tucker had a 58-yard field goal that game in which he posed and gave a shrug to his teammates.

"We get to play in the National Football League. I've gotten the opportunities to kick footballs for my work for the past 10-plus years, and we get to knock down a game-winner on Sunday Night Football while everybody in the football world is watching," Tucker said. "That's why we play this game, for moments like that. That reaction was, look at us."

Tucker told Viviano that while there are bigger and faster athletes in the fight, it's a kicker's mind that can be the most dangerous weapon.

At one point this season, he made his record-setting 61st-consecutive field goal in the fourth quarter or overtime.

"Where I am the most athletic is in my mind. That's why kickers will always have a place in this game because no one can quite do it like the Adam Vinatieri's or Morton Anderson's, they are built different," Tucker said. "Their mind is their greatest asset."

Tucker, more than 10 years in the league, told Viviano he still has as much fun playing with these high stakes as he did playing backyard football in Austin, Texas.

"We definitely make sure to have a good time when we play. I think back to when I was a kid playing in the backyard or playing football at recess, pretending I was Deion Sanders or Troy Aikman, or whomever I was watching at the time," Tucker said. "I still get to play the same game, albeit the stakes are significantly higher than recess at Highland Park Elementary School in Austin, Texas, but in my mind, you have to play the game with that passion, with that joy."

In fact, when Tucker started out with the Ravens, he told then-future Hall of Famer Ed Reed that he emulated him as a high school safety.

"I told Ed Reed, I walked right up to him, introduced myself and I told him, 'Ed you were my favorite player growing up, some of my highlights were watching you take a pick to the house, and I modeled my game after you,'" Tucker said. "He's like, 'but you're the kicker, right.'"

Tucker, in the offseason, signed a four-year, $24 million contract extension, making him the fourth-highest paid kicker in the NFL.

It was worth the money for both.

However, Tucker said he is happy in Baltimore, and the Ravens are sitting atop the AFC North with a 5-3 record.

"To know that anybody would go out and buy my jersey or get my jersey as a gift, that's something I don't take lightly," Tucker said. "That is a huge honor and it is a privilege to wear that jersey in the first place. The fact that I am able to provide a little bit of a light to somebody that needs it, just put a smile on someone's face, it means the world to me.

"The fact that I get to play in Baltimore, in this town, I very quickly came to call this home. I love it out here and this is my home. "

Tucker has also made charitable contributions in Maryland with the Maryland Food Bank, Helping Up Mission, and helping to fight addiction, poverty and homelessness.