The Kansas City Chiefs organization needs to take a long, hard look at itself in the mirror.
Yesterday, the Chiefs made an embarrassing decision, one that tarnishes the team’s reputation, destroys any claims of organizational values, and highlights the ongoing struggles women face to simply be believed in today’s world.
News broke on Wednesday that the Chiefs were signing veteran kicker Justin Tucker to their practice squad. Tucker played 13 seasons with the Ravens and is widely regarded as one of, if not the best, kickers of all time.
But the 36-year-old has been out of the league since he was released by Baltimore in 2025 following a down year on the field and reports of sexual misconduct.
Sixteen women have accused Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior, according to The Baltimore Banner. The alleged incidents took place between 2012 and 2016, Tucker’s first four seasons in the NFL, during treatments at massage parlors and wellness centers in the Baltimore area, The Banner said.
Tucker is accused of exposing his genitals and brushing multiple women with his penis. Tucker has denied the allegations, but he was suspended by the NFL for 10 games following an investigation in 2025 for breaching the league’s personal conduct policy, and he hadn’t been on a team’s roster since then—until now.
Kansas City’s decision to sign Tucker should be called exactly what it is: a disgrace.
Shockingly, 43 percent of women in the U.S. experience some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime, according to data from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). That’s more than 52 million people.
Sixteen of those women came forward to call out the alleged inappropriate behavior they had to endure, and the Chiefs either chose not to believe them or decided they didn’t care. Either answer is abhorrent, and it needs to be called out.
There is zero justification for signing Tucker. Zero. His time in the NFL should be over.
Andy Reid's response to the Tucker signing isn't good enough
In his press conference on Wednesday, following the announcement that Tucker was joining the practice squad, head coach Andy Reid offered a flimsy defense of the decision when asked what message it sent to female fans in Kansas City.
“He’s [Tucker] done his suspension and took care of that business there. I’ll leave it at that for you,” Reid said. “We try to do our homework the best way we possibly can and talk to a lot of people and make sure that things are, you know, are okay.”
That answer is pathetic. “That business” Reid is talking about is the alleged inappropriate sexual misconduct toward more than a dozen women, not a player who had his feet up during a team meeting.
As for the “homework” the team did, I don’t understand how it could have led to the conclusion that signing Tucker wasn’t a mistake. Were any of the people the Chiefs spoke to among the 16 women who made the accusations? If not, why not?
It’s not good enough.
The reason Kansas City brought Tucker in is obvious: to win. The Chiefs have a problem at kicker right now, and Tucker might help solve it, but at what cost? A woman’s personal safety shouldn’t be the price paid to win a football game.
The Chiefs are choosing to voluntarily bring someone who has been accused of something awful and who was suspended by the NFL for it into their building. How would that make any female Chiefs employee feel? How would it make any female trainer or medical staff member feel? How can you expect any Chiefs fan, male or female, to cheer on and support someone accused of this kind of behavior?
It is everybody's responsibility, including sports teams, to hold incidents like this to a higher standard, not to brush them aside, and to treat them seriously, not as an inconvenience.
The Chiefs have a history of overlooking off-field conduct
Of course, this isn’t anything new for the Chiefs, who have a history of overlooking poor off-field behavior and even criminal conduct.
The Chiefs cut Kareem Hunt in 2018 after a video emerged of him pushing and kicking a woman at a hotel. Kansas City’s statement following his release implied Hunt was let go for not being honest about the incident, not because of his actions.
In 2015, Tyreek Hill pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation involving his then-pregnant girlfriend. Kansas City selected Hill in the fifth round of the NFL Draft eight months later.
The Chiefs have been linked with the idea of re-signing Hill, who is now a free agent, this season. Last month, Hill was found liable for two counts of battery in a civil trial but was found not liable on eight further claims.
Reid clearly believes in second chances, and I do too, but I don’t think they should be unconditional. Second chances shouldn’t extend to the highest level of professional sports. To play at that level is a privilege, not a right. It’s something that must be earned on and off the field.
Second chances matter, but so do values—values like respecting women and not breaking the law.
The Chiefs had other options and chose Justin Tucker anyway
The allegations against Tucker have not been proven in court, and he has repeatedly labeled the claims as false and denied any wrongdoing, but women deserve to be believed, and what they say should be taken seriously. A study cited by the NSVRC says the prevalence of false allegations of sexual assault is as low as 2–10 percent.
The Chiefs had two other kickers try out alongside Tucker, and they could have opted to sign one of them or anyone else, but instead, they chose him. I hope Tucker never steps onto a field as a Kansas City Chief. But even then, the damage has already been done.
The Chiefs had another opportunity to stand up for women’s safety, but they failed again, miserably. Actions speak louder than words, and this action by the Chiefs is deafening in the worst possible way.
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