Justin Tucker Off the Field: His Passions and Projects

Reaching the Pro Football Hall of Fame is an accomplishment that a very small percentage of NFL players ever realize. Reaching the Hall of Fame as a kicker is an even rarer feat (no pun intended).

Only two pure kickers are currently in the Hall—Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen. George Blanda and Lou Groza are also Hall of Famers, but they played quarterback and offensive tackle, respectively, in addition to being kickers.

Well, Baltimore Ravens specialist Justin Tucker appears on track to be the next pure kicker enshrined in Canton. He's accomplished many kicking milestones, and this past season, he set an NFL record for the longest made field goal.

Tucker is a five-time Pro Bowler, a five-time first-team All-Pro and has made a whopping 91.1 percent of his field-goal attempts. In 386 point-after tries, he's missed only four.

One could argue that Tucker has already cemented his Hall of Fame status, but the 32-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down. In 2021, he led the NFL in field-goal percentage (94.6) while hitting 100 percent of his point-after tries.

While Tucker is unquestionably one of the best to ever kick in the NFL, his passions aren't confined to football. Like most other players, he has outside interests—one of which he is quite vocal about.

Tucker, the Opera Star

Fans aren't unaccustomed to seeing NFL players cross over into music. Le'Veon Bell and Cole Beasley have both released rap albums, and who can forget the simultaneously bad-and-glorious '85 Chicago Bears' Super Bowl Shuffle?

Tucker enjoys flashing his musical talent, too, though you're more likely to find him at a church or performing arts center than in a music video. He is a classically trained bass-baritone who enjoys singing opera.

Check out this clip of Tucker performing at a Catholic Charities benefit with the Concert Artists of Baltimore.

The kicker is also a singing pitchman for Royal Farms.

Tucker found his voice at the University of Texas, where he auditioned for and was accepted to the Butler School of Music. There, according to Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated, Tucker came under the guidance of Nikita Storojev, an associate professor of voice and a seasoned opera bass.

"He had to learn how to support every note, how to concentrate, how to use his diaphragm. And if you work in sport, you're able to use your diaphragm," Storojev said, per Prewitt.

Tucker's training paid off, as did his commitment to perfecting clutch field-goal kicking.

"Honing in on your craft and developing a technique that looks a certain way, time and time again—that requires much preparation and hard work. To make something that is actually difficult appear easy, I think there's a level of artistry in that idea," Tucker said per Prewitt.

In his own way, Tucker has become an artist both on the stage and on the gridiron.

Community Involvement

Tucker hasn't just sung for charity in the Baltimore area, though he's done plenty of that. As an active member of the community, he's done work for local programs like the Helping Up Mission.

The Helping Up Mission is a program to lead the "fight against addiction, poverty and homelessness in Greater Baltimore."

He has also partnered with the Maryland Food Bank and Campbell's Soup—which pledged during the 2018 season to donate 500 cans of soup for every field goal Tucker made. That came out to a whopping 17,500 cans of soup.

"A can of soup can make a massive difference in somebody's day or their week or their month, so to be able to be a part of feeding just one person or a family, it's really important," Tucker said, per Darian Khalilpour of WBAL-TV 11 in Baltimore.

Tucker has also worked with the Baltimore School for the Arts. He sang "Ave Maria" as part of a made-for-TV NFL talent show, winning first prize and $50,000 for the BSA.

While he might be from Texas, Tucker has become ingrained in the Baltimore area.

"He's not a native Baltimorean, but he's like our adopted son. He is so generous with his time and so genuine about his engagement with the kids," BSA chief advancement officer Brigid Zuknick said, per Bo Smolka of Pressbox Online.

Tucker is well on his way to becoming an all-time great Raven, both on and off the field.