Episode 62: Justin Tucker
On the 62nd episode of “Great Dane Nation,” Morten is joined by Baltimore Ravens legend Justin Tucker (05:47 – 30:08). But first, he checks in with TommyFreezePops (Tom Carroll) for this week’s edition of the “Opening Kick” (01:01 – 04:54). Morten talks about an insane weekend of upset football, as well as his disappointment with Aaron Rodgers in his handling of COVID-19 protocols in Green Bay.We then move to our interview with Justin Tucker, where he discusses a wide range of topics: why kickers seem to get even better as they age, and recognizing that he needed to change some things to get to a dominant level of consistency (08:10); the factors that led to him getting to “unconscious competence” when it comes to kicking, including a deep study into free agent NFL kicker Stephen Gostkowski’s approach to the position (10:18); why becoming a dad focused him in a way that he never realized it could (14:07); the importance of being present in the less-than-2-seconds-process of snap-hold-kick (17:40); a cameo appearance from longtime Ravens punter Sam Koch (19:21); the beginning, middle, and end of his record-breaking 66-yard field goal from earlier this season in Detroit (20:18); and this week’s edition of “The Name Game,” featuring Mack Brown, John Harbaugh, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Nick Foles and Joe Flacco (27:50).Then we move to this week’s edition of “Morten’s Fast 5,” where our Hall of Famer makes picks for the five biggest games of the football weekend (31:33 – 38:24). Morten gives his picks for Browns at Patriots (32:54), Buccaneers at Washington (34:09), Falcons at Cowboys (35:12), Bills at Jets (36:07), and Saints at Titans (36:59).Finally, we close things out with “Morten’s Game Winner” – a weekly monologue from The Great Dane on his biggest takeaway of the week. This week, Morten talks about the dominance of Justin Tucker, and why he thinks the Ravens’ MVP should be their legendary kicker (38:24).