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The Chiefs clearly have a type, and it’s despicable.

Thursday, Kansas City signed Justin Tucker to the practice squad, despite Tucker previously serving a 10-game suspension after being credibly accused of sexual assault by 16 different women, four days after Harrison Butker missed two kicks in a loss to the Seahawks.

Butker, of course, said during a 2024 commencement speech at Benedictine College that “Some of you [women] may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

Lovely.

Telling a room full of women who just poured their minds, hearts, and souls into a degree with sights on a rewarding career that they’re best suited to raise a family is the kind of messaging I hope to shield my own daughter from and that I personally find reprehensible beyond words.

But, what Tucker is accused of is downright heinous.

“Yeah, so, he’s done his suspension, you know. Took care of that business there,” Andy Reid told reporters this week, after signing Tucker. “I’ll leave it at that for you.”

Thanks, Andy. We’ll take it from here.

Just a reminder, Tucker allegedly repeatedly exposed his genitals to non-consenting massage therapists and ejaculating on their massage tables.

Reid and the Chiefs are kicking the tires on replacing a kicker who’s world view is so abhorrent, that it unfortunately wasn’t left in the trash bin of the 1950s, who has missed seven field goals in his last 11 games, with one who faced a half dozen credible sexual assault allegations.

It’s as if this franchise, and by extension, this league, is actively trying to alienate its female fanbase.

And, it’s disgusting.

From a strictly business standpoint, it isn’t smart business, given that a 2025 variety estimate revealed that women make up 47 percent of the NFL’s total fanbase with the average female sports fan spending around $1,500 each per year, according to an estimate from Scribbs.

For a league and set of owners who worship at the altar of capitalism, the NFL allowing Butker and maybe Tucker back onto the field is a bullhorn blaring how the league really feels about the women who fill their coffers.

No one is saying that Butker isn’t entitled to his beliefs, but he deserves every bit of criticism, every social media wisecrack after every missed field goal attempt, and every condemnation for believing that a woman’s place is in the kitchen or the bedroom rather than at the top of their chosen profession.

Likewise, it is true that Tucker served his suspension, and legally he hasn’t been sentenced to any prison time for his actions.

That doesn’t mean that he should be given the opportunity to be back on the field representing an NFL franchise.

From a purely football perspective, it’s difficult to understand what makes Tucker, who had as many made field goals as sexual assault allegations from 50-plus yards in 11 tries in 2024 the best option.

Tucker was just 22-of-30 that season.

Butker has become as big a liability as he is a misogynist.

But, potentially replacing Butker with Tucker underscores how tone def Reid, the Chiefs, and the NFL are on this issue.

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What is going on with kickers this year? We’re seeing them easily drill 60-plus yard field goals, but are missing extra points left and right. What’s the deal? (BenBramsen on Threads)

If you follow me on Threads (MattLombardoNFL), you’re well aware what a workout “kickers, man” has been getting this season.

After all, not a field goal miss goes by without me roasting the kicker who likely spent 3/4s of practice leisurely strolling around the practice field all week before trying a couple of kicks in practice fails at his one job of splitting the uprights.

It’s a fun bit. Friends and followers are now texting and tagging me when a kicker misses a field goal in the game they’re watching.

It might also be feeding into the perception that kickers are missing more extra points than ever.

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Sure, Packers rookie Trey Smack isn’t helping things (missing two in the past two games), but the raw data isn’t backing up what our lying eyes and algorithms are telling us.

Through the season’s first seven weeks, kickers are drilling extra points at a 94.2 percent clip, down only slightly from last season’s 95.9 percent.

We also may need to start rethinking how we view extra points, according to one coach I posed your question to.

“You have to remember, an extra point is what they kick in college,” a special teams coordinator tells Between The Hashmarks, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely. “They call it an extra point in the NFL, but it’s actually a 33-yard field goal. Just look at the percentages for kicks in between 30 and 35 and ‘extra points,’ I’m pretty sure it’s the same. Now, if you get a penalty on an extra point, you’re looking at a 40-48-yard field goal, and at that point, that’s just what it is.”

To the coach’s point, league wide, kickers are making 30-39-yard field goals at a 98.1 percent rate.

That’s still, though, more consistency than we are seeing on extra point tries.

Meanwhile, kickers finding more success from 50-plus yards is part of a growing trend across the league, in part due to coaches being more aggressive and trusting them more, but this season kickers are averaging .4 made field goals from 50-plus per game, up from .3 in 205, and even with the .4 they made per game in 2024.

“These guys are bigger stronger, and faster than ever before,” the special teams coordinator we spoke to says. “They’re getting, just as at any other position, and their legs are stronger.

“So, you have guys like Aubrey and Ka'imi Fairbairn who can make these 55-yard plus field goals consistently, because these guys are stronger, they have great routines that they do, ad the operation with the snapper and the holder, these guys work together every day, so it’s almost automatic.”

Long story short … kickers are stronger than ever, but their brains remain an unsolved mystery, as they always have been. Welcome to modern football.

So the next time your team's kicker shanks a chip-shot extra point, just remember: it's not a gimme anymore … it's a high-stress field goal in disguise. At least until they start launching them from the logo. Then, it’s just these dudes showing off.

Kickers, man …

The Bears gave up A LOT for Jeffery Simmons. Is he worth the cost? Does that trade suggest the Bears are thinking their window is opening? (ForthAndPrint on Threads)

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