Jim Nantz addressed the Chiefs’ decision to sign Justin Tucker during the November 1 broadcast against the Broncos, shortly after Harrison Butker made a 45-yard field goal before halftime.
“Just last year, Tucker had to serve a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy,” Nantz said. “Given the multitude of allegations of nonconsensual behavior, Tucker’s signing this week just drew a sharp rebuke in Kansas City and really all over the NFL landscape.”
J.J. Watt added that Andy Reid and the organization had spent nearly half of their weekly press conference answering questions about the move. The broadcasters then returned to the game.
The allegations, first reported in early 2025, came from 16 massage therapists across eight Baltimore-area spas. They described nonconsensual sexual behavior during sessions between 2012 and 2016.
Tucker has denied the claims, calling them “unequivocally false.” He accepted the NFL’s 10-game suspension without appeal.
After Kansas City signed him to the practice squad on October 28 amid Butker’s kicking struggles, therapists who had spoken out described the decision as painful. One called it “a sad day for all the victims” and said it showed Tucker had faced “no accountability.” Attorneys representing several of the women said they found the signing surprising given the results of the NFL’s investigation.
Reid’s public response was brief: “He’s done his suspension. Took care of that business there. I’ll leave it at that.”
Nantz and Watt’s roughly 30-second explanation stood out because it directly connected the signing to the prior suspension and the volume of allegations rather than treating the controversy as background noise.