GREEN BAY – Tucker Kraft wasn't looking to go viral when the Packers tight end launched back to his feet with an impressive kip-up at the end of the third quarter in Detroit.
Kraft just wanted to motivate his team after getting laid out by multiple Lions defenders at the end of a 21-yard catch and run.
"I've done it before; never post-catch," said Kraft on Monday. "I just had an opportunity to get up before the guy who hit me did. I got smacked. I knew the crowd, the Lions were going to be juiced about it, so I felt like as soon as I did that I just kind of created a little momentum for our side of the ball, too."
It worked. Two plays later, the Packers scored on a 4-yard Josh Jacobs touchdown run to regain the lead. The Lions ultimately prevailed 34-31 in a down-to-the-wire affair, but Kraft's highlight made the rounds on social media over the weekend.
Former WWE superstar Shawn Michaels, who helped popularize the kip-up during his wrestling career, gave the 6-foot-5, 259-pound tight end a 10 out of 10 on an X post last Friday.
Multiple friends forwarded Michaels' seal of approval to Kraft, including San Francisco tight end George Kittle, who told him, "Dude, you've got to respond to him."
Having grown up a wrestling fan himself, Kraft acknowledged Michaels in his Instagram story over the weekend.
"Heartbreak Kid. What an honor. A legend right there," said Kraft, referring to Michaels' wrestling nickname. "My brothers, they made fun of me a lot for watching 'Monday Night Raw.' Don't tell me it wasn't real. Who's laughing now?"
It's another exciting chapter in a breakout year for Kraft, who's second on the team in receiving yards (521) and first in receiving touchdowns (seven).
The 24-year-old tight end said his body felt good coming out of the long weekend. While the loss to the Lions hurt, it was a valuable reminder of the improvements the Packers must make to beat an elite team that makes so few mistakes.
Speaking only for himself, Kraft said there were a few instances last Thursday where he "went in full head of steam" and then missed his angle and didn't stay connected on a block. Those are corrections Kraft will look to make heading into Sunday night's showdown with the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks.
"I'd say last game was a check for us because we had guys playing with – myself included – playing with aggression but not necessarily the best technique," Kraft said.
"Going forward, I think we're going to take each game one game at a time, one play at a time. This next storm of games, we're going to be locked in. We're going to be energized, we're going to bring that juice, we're going to be locked into our technique, our assignment, our alignment. If we win the line of scrimmage, we win each game."
