At this point in the offseason, NFL players are used to working out away from team facilities. Rules in the league's Collect Bargaining Agreement prohibit players from training with a football at team headquarters.
Justin Tucker knows this all too well, having to find different places to kick over the offseason. This week, Tucker needed to find a field, and he didn't have to look far.
Earlier this summer, Tucker chose to work out in Baltimore's Patterson Park. He didn't share his plans with other people, but after fans spied him and helped him run down balls launched across the field, Tucker had an idea.
Practicing with fans, he realized, created a mutual benefit.
"I had a bunch of helpers out here," Tucker said. "A bunch of people shagging ball and throwing them back for me. Then I thought, 'Well shoot, I might as well make this a mini community event.'"
So Tucker took to Twitter to advertise.
Heading to Patterson now, be there in about a half an hr! Come help out if u want!
— Justin Tucker (@jtuck9) July 15, 2015
The more people that came to his practice, the more help he'd get and the louder the environment became. Fans enjoyed a great experience, while Tucker saved himself the trouble of booting kicks and then running them down himself.
It remains to be seen whether kicking with fans will help Tucker, who finished eighth in fields goals made last year. Either way, it seems like fun for those kids.
