The Baltimore Ravens are still waiting for the NFL to come away with its findings in the investigation surrounding kicker Justin Tucker. The veteran kicker has been accused of engaging in sexual misconduct by 16 massage therapists over eight different Baltimore area spas.
On Sunday, Ravens president Sashi Brown spoke to reporters at the Annual League Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, and addressed where things stand between the organization and Tucker. Brown reiterated that they are allowing the league to conduct its investigation and that the team has received updates from that investigation.
“One of the great things about the fact that the NFL has taken this on is that it gives more independence to the team and so we try to respect and stay at an arm’s length,” said Brown, via ESPN.
In late February, CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported that the league has spoken with several of the accusers, who were made available by their attorney.
“I think we want to make sure that we have great understanding of the facts, that we hear both sides of the situation, and that we allow the investigation to properly be concluded and make decisions based on full information,” Brown added.
Brown emphasized that the team won’t make any decisions simply based on allegations and will wait until the league comes away with its findings before determining what to do with Tucker.
“The notion is we have a zero-tolerance policy where we’re going to make decisions just merely based on allegations before we have full understanding of the facts, before we allow investigations to continue,” Brown said, via The Athletic. “We’ll never have that policy. … It wouldn’t be fair to our players, wouldn’t be fair to any citizens. Really flies in the face of the basis of any modern justice system.”
The initial wave of accusers came forward on Jan. 30 with six women accusing Tucker of inappropriate behavior. Since then, 10 more have come forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior spanning from 2012-16 over eight different spas. For his part, Tucker has responded to these claims, saying they are “unequivocally false” and “desperate tabloid fodder.”
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