NFL teams
Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Justin Tucker feels love from fans

NFL, Baltimore Ravens

BALTIMORE -- Justin Tucker isn't simply the hottest kicker in the NFL these days. He's also the most popular player on the Baltimore Ravens.

Tucker is feeling the love from Twitter, billboards around the city and even at a local mall.

On Tuesday night, less than 24 hours after he kicked the winning 61-yard field goal in the Ravens' 18-16 victory over the Detroit Lions, hundreds of fans lined up for his autograph signing. One person waited seven hours for Tucker and brought him a mix tape.

"I started crying," Ashley Frampton told the CBS television affiliate in Baltimore. "That's why I'm first in line; I'm going to ask him to marry me."

Tucker recently got engaged, but that's beside the point. It's difficult to go anywhere in Baltimore without hearing talk about Tucker or seeing some form of admiration for him.

One local company went to work quickly to get Tucker T-shirts on the shelves by Tuesday. There are billboards popping up around town, including one that reads: "In Tucker We Trust." Another billboard proclaimed "LEGATRON > MEGATRON," playing Tucker's heroics against Lions receiver Calvin Johnson's nickname.

Tucker took to Twitter to remind fans that St. Louis Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein already has the nickname Legatron.

Tucker quickly realized the extent of his popularity, especially among fantasy football owners, saying after the game that he couldn't even turn on his cellphone.

"My Twitter mentions were kind of freaking out on me, enough to suck all the battery out of my phone," Tucker said in an interview with ESPN Radio's "SVP & Russillo" show Tuesday.

He also received 61 text messages.

"So, I thought that was coincidental," said Tucker, alluding to the fact that it matched the distance of his winning field goal in Detroit.

Tucker has converted 33 straight field goals, which is the longest current streak in the league. It's also four from breaking Matt Stover's team record (36).

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