Family cheering for Tucker in Super Bowl

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Michelle Tucker remembers hearing the continuous thud of a soccer ball bouncing against the walls of her house.

The culprit was her middle child and only boy, Justin.

“I would be on him constantly,” Tucker remembers. “I said teasingly, ‘Honey, I hope you do something later in your professional life that requires kicking a ball.”

Justin took his mother’s advice and in his first year in the NFL, the former Westlake High School and Texas standout will handle the kicking duties for the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII.

Tucker has connected on 33 of 35 field goals in his rookie season, including three game winning kicks. Most recently he made a 47-yarder in double overtime that carried the Ravens to the AFC Championship game.

But crunch time kicks have not been the most nerve wracking part of the season for Michelle Tucker. That came in the preseason, when Justin – signed by Baltimore as an undrafted free agent – had to beat out veteran Billy Cundiff for a spot on the team.

Michelle Tucker remembers grocery shopping in August when her cell phone rang. It was her husband, Dr. Paul Tucker. The Ravens had named Tucker the starter. 

“I'll just never forget that moment, Paul said, ‘he's in. he got the job.’ I think I screamed out loud in the middle of Randalls, I think I gave some people around me heart attacks but I think I proceeded to tell everyone in Randalls that my son was going to be an NFL football player.”

Michelle Tucker thinks of Justin as the crème of the cookie, her baby boy born after older sister Nicole and two years before younger sister Samantha.

The youngest Tucker, a member of the Texas swim team, watched her older brother’s game winning kick against the Broncos alone in her apartment, away from distraction.

“It's a little hard to watch because it's your brother out there and he's by himself doing what he's doing but we all have faith in him and he has faith in himself,” Samantha Tucker said.

Older sister Nicole is quick to show off the tiny no. 9 Ravens jerseys hanging from each ear.

“I'm really proud of him, I even bought my little Justin Tucker jersey earrings on eBay, which is pretty cool that that even exists,” she said.

Faith is important to the family and comes up often when Dr. Paul Tucker talks about his son’s journey to the Super Bowl.

“[Justin] makes the sign of the cross before he kicks. While he does that I do that myself wherever I am. I don't care if I'm in a stadium or a restaurant or a sports bar or wherever,” he said, adding with a smile, “he doesn't ask God to help him make the kick. I do.”

The Tucker girls remember family talent shows as kids. Justin wearing cowboy boots, a Batman cape and a football jersey, obediently following Nicole’s choreographed steps.

Maybe that helps explains the self assuredness the rookie kicker has displayed in close games.

Or maybe - for a family that loves to sing, dance and, “have ridiculous amounts of fun,” as Michelle puts it - it’s a preview of a Sunday night celebration in New Orleans following a Ravens win.

“If that happens then we'll have to bust out with our rendition of Love Shack,” she said, referring to the 80’s hit by the B-52’s. “Because no one does Love Shack like the five of us.”