Mr. Everything: ATH Malcolm Tucker does it all

PALM BEACH GARDENS – Malcolm Tucker is quite possibly the most versatile football player in all of Palm Beach County.

The Palm Beach Gardens junior athlete was nominated for our Public Schools Special Teams Player of the Year, as he connected on 37 of his 40 extra point attempts and made a 43-yard field goal in Week 2 of this past season against Glades Central.

“I had a chance to make a 45-yarder the same game,” Tucker said. “But it went over the upright.”

Tucker’s game goes way past making extra points and field goals. He’s also a kick returner, a punt returner, a wide receiver, and a defensive back for Palm Beach Gardens.

For Mr. Everything, his best individual game was against Palm Beach Lakes in Week 6 of this past season.

At least one play stood out.

It was a 50+ yard touchdown that Tucker caught in space from junior quarterback Brand Campbell, which turned the score from 21-14 to 28-14 with under five minutes left in the game.

Tucker went right back on the field to make the extra point.

In all, Mr. Everything had five PAT’s and the touchdown catch for that one, which turned out to be a 35-14 in favor of Gardens (6-5 final record in 2021).

And in addition to that, Tucker ran back a 99-yard kickoff return before getting tackled at the Lakes 1-yard line at some point in the Week 6 tilt.

“When you hear Gardens versus Lakes, you know it’s gonna be a good game,” Tucker said. “I had a big kick return and a game-sealing touchdown. I was playing corner on their sideline, so you know it was chippy and I just shut it down. No passes caught on me.”

To close out his junior season, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound athlete racked up 422 kick return yards and 77 punt return yards, while adding 15 catches for 299 yards and at least one touchdown in 10 games played.

“My junior year was my takeoff year,” Tucker said. “I knew I had a lot of weight to carry and a lot to bring to the table. I just had to put the team on my back. I just thank Coach Green, Higgins, Newby, OB and Campbell for holding me to a high standard everyday. I was born a leader. I just had to step up and bring the energy in practice how I brought it to the games. I just know my junior year could’ve went a lot better.”