Ravens’ Justin Tucker denies allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour

Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has denied allegations of sexual misbehaviour detailed in a report from the Baltimore Banner on Thursday.

In the article, the Baltimore Banner cites six massage therapists across four high-end spas who claim that Tucker exposed his genitals, brushed two of them with his naked penis and left what they believed to be semen on the massage table following treatments.

Several therapists also ended sessions with Tucker early or refused to see him again due to “egregious” behaviour, the Banner reported.

“In accusing me of misconduct, the article takes innocuous, or ambiguous, interactions and skews them so out of proportion they are no longer recognizable, and it presents vague insinuations as fact. This is desperate tabloid fodder,” Tucker wrote.

The Banner said the incidents took place between 2012, Tucker’s rookie season, and 2016. Tucker has remained the Ravens kicker ever since.

“I’ve told people about this over the years, and they either act like it’s hot goss(ip) or a joke,” one therapist who worked on Tucker in 2016 told the Banner. “But it was really degrading.”

Tucker said he has “never before been accused of misconduct of any kind.”

“I have never been accused of acting inappropriately in front of a massage therapist or during a massage therapy session or during other bodywork. I have never received any complaints from a massage therapist, have never been dismissed from a massage therapy or bodywork sessions, and have never been told that I was not welcome at any spa or other place of business,” he wrote.

The 35-year-old Tucker has often been regarded as the best player at his position during his 12 years in the league. He kicked two field goals during the Ravens’ Super Bowl victory in 2013.

Tucker’s attorneys told the Banner the allegations are “impossible to prove.”

“Mr. Tucker has never behaved inappropriately during any massage therapy session, and certainly never in the manner described,” the lawyers said. “Any suggestion to the contrary is a fictitious and utterly baseless claim.”

In a statement to ESPN, the NFL said it “will look into the matter.”

“We first became aware of the allegations from the reporter investigating this story as they were not previously shared with the NFL. We take any allegation seriously,” the NFL wrote.