text size

Justin Time: Only A Rookie, Ravens' Tucker Has Prior Super Bowl "Experience"

Updated: Friday, February 1 2013, 10:52 AM CST

The life of a field goal kicker is as much about between the ears as it is about between the uprights.

"People remember when you do well," said Ravens kicker Justin Tucker. "They'll also remember when you fail."

Tucker will never be forgotten by Longhorns fans (or Aggies for that matter) after he kicked the winning field goal in the final Texas/Texas A&M game prior to conference realignment.

But even that historic boot couldn't give him a leg up on his competition. Tucker was not invited to the NFL Draft Combine.

"I didn't have a doubt that I would get a shot," Tucker told KEYE TV sports during Super Bowl XLVII week.

Therefore, in order to showcase his talents for scouts, he had to take matters into his own hands. Tucker produced a video and uploaded it to YouTube hoping it would help him get a look from the NFL.

"Once a door is open and your foot is in it, it's about walking all the way through," said Tucker. "For me, I knew I would never have the luxury of just walking right on through. I'd have to bust it down."

After signing with Baltimore as an undrafted free agent, Tucker ousted Billy Cundiff - a Pro Bowl kicker two years prior, and won the starting job as a rookie. Since then, he's been as automatic as king cake on Fat Tuesday.

"We knew at the start of the season that we had a special guy at that position," said Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta. "He was just solid all throughout and then in every pressure situation, he's been huge for us."

If Tucker is faced with a Super Bowl winning kick Sunday, don't be surprised if the rookie feels right at home in the Dome.

"I always end my warm-up routine based off of Adam Vinatieri's 48 yard field goal from the right hash that won the Super Bowl in 2001," Tucker said.

It was Super Bowl 36, a game played on the very same date (February 3rd) in the very same place (The Superdome) that the Ravens and 49ers will meet Sunday.

"You know, I never really asked him day one what was the significance behind it," said Ravens punter and holder Sam Koch. "But later in the season I started understanding what the point of it was."

As a kicker in the NFL, your mind is as valuable as your leg.

"I'm living the dream but I don't have to pinch myself - I knew I'd be here," Tucker told KEYE TV sports in New Orleans.

And it's a place he's been many times before.