CHARLOTTE — Luke Kuechly makes an impression on people.
That's why so many people are so eager to talk about him.
And for the last year, so many have.
As the former Panthers linebacker and Pro Football Hall of Famer is recognized at Sunday's game to receive his Ring of Excellence from the Hall, it's worth looking back at some, but not close to all of the stories that have been told about Kuechly. (Our entire archive of Luke Kuechly Hall of Fame material can be found here.)
From his early years to family influences, from teammates to coaches and co-workers at every level of the building, here are 59 stories about No. 59.
The power of connection
"Luke was somebody who, he always had to be touching you somehow. Bumping you, or when I was sitting in this little stool when we were eating dinner, he had to have his foot on you or something.
"He was always aware of where everybody was. Like making sure if we were out as a family somewhere, he didn't want somebody to fall behind, or he was always just concerned about keeping everybody together.
"He was always aware of where we were at all times." — Eileen Kuechly, Luke's mother, and possibly the only person he loves more than he loves football, explaining her middle son's personality in a way that foreshadowed his NFL career.
Competitiveness, early on
"Dad and I were sitting inside, and Luke comes in and says, 'I think I'm done, but John's still out there fishing.' But Luke's watching. John catches a fish. Luke sees that, goes back outside, grabs his rod. My dad said, 'What's going on?' and I said, 'He's got to catch one more than John, and that's what he was doing. He went back out, and he just stayed one ahead. As long as he was one ahead, he was good." — Tom Kuechly, Luke's father, explaining the competitiveness that his son showed early on.
Yeah, he's a middle linebacker
"(Tom Kuechly) said, 'You're going to have your hands full with Luke out there.' "I said, 'What do you mean?' He says, 'He lacks discipline.' I said, 'Go ahead.' And he said, 'Well, when he plays baseball, if he's playing third base, and the ball gets hit over the right fielder's head, he'll go chase the ball down. In basketball, they tell him to guard number 12. If 12 doesn't have the ball, he goes and guards the kid with the ball. Same way with soccer. If he's the goalie and the ball's at the other end of the field, Luke is down there.'
"I told him, 'I appreciate you telling me that. I'll do the best I can.' So I turned around, and I just said to myself, 'We have found a middle linebacker.'" — Kevin Harris, who coached the St. Saviour Golden Bears, Kuechly's first football team (when he was in fourth grade). He's the one we have to thank for all of this.
Always making it about others
"You know, we've got a bunch of little kids, and we went to the Disney resort, and there's Luke, and he's walking up to the water slide and waiting in line with my son TJ for an hour to go down the water slide. And he's just doing it because he's Luke and he genuinely enjoys being in the moment and connecting with them. And whether it's a grandma, whether it's an adult, or whether it's a 5-year-old daughter or your 5-year-old son, like, it's just Luke.
"It's genuine. He's consistent about it, and I have a million of those stories that don't have anything to even do with football that he's made impacts on my family, my kids, my wife, my parents. And everyone that knows him probably has similar stories, and it's just a unique trait. It's a unique, wholesome, very genuine trait that very few people have, and he has it." — Former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, on Kuechly's penchant for making connections with everyone he meets.
Great player, great teammate
"What I remember most about Luke is that he was just a great teammate; one of my favorite teammates, man. And I played a long time, had hundreds, maybe even thousands of teammates over the years. Luke was one of my very favorites, man, just because of how he was as a teammate, as a person, outside of how great he was as a football player, which that's a whole other story in itself. But just how he was with the guys in the locker room, just trying to be one of the guys, trying to be a great teammate, trying to be a leader, doing things the right way, being very professional. So that's what I saw in him, and that's what I really admired about him more than all the great things he did on the field, right?
"Luke was just being himself. Just taking the time out to mentor or talk to a young player that he knows probably may not make the team. But still, Luke was there with him, trying to give him everything that he needed to try to be successful. Just stuff like that, man; mentoring, being a great teammate with the guys in the locker room." — Hall of Fame defensive end Julius Peppers, who surprised Kuechly with the news at his home in January, and put the gold jacket on his back in Canton in August.
Setting the standard
"I mean, I've said this in front of him, and to him so many times. This is the greatest defensive player I ever had a chance to play against. Every time we played him, he just set a standard that was just unmatched.
"Honestly, I appreciate him so much because he made me better; He made us all better. Like a week preparing for a Luke Kuechly-led defense, we just knew we had to be so on point, so laser-focused; it was almost like we could not make a mistake, or else this guy would find a way to ruin our day." — Former Saints QB and Hall of Fame classmate Drew Brees, who was 8-8 against the Panthers in the regular season during Kuechly's eight seasons.
Right place, right time
"When I saw him play, I just remember a guy that was very in control. He seemed like he had a good handle on the game itself and getting the flow of the game and knowing where the ball is going to be, knowing how to control the huddle, and not just being in the game and playing the game, but making sure that everybody else was in the game.
"And caring about more than himself, but being able to see his influence throughout the game. And so, to me, you could see that he was a student of the game. That was the biggest difference, that he was normally in the right place at the right time." — Former Bears linebacker and Hall of Famer Mike Singletary, who played on the only team in football history with a better linebacker legacy than the Carolina Panthers. And the Bears had a 75-year head start.
Mr. Consistency
"The consistency. He was that guy that wherever he was on the field, you couldn't come anywhere near him because he was going to make the tackle; he never missed a tackle. He never missed a read. He was always where he needed to be in coverage. And so I think about one of the most reliable defensive players in NFL history.
"If I'm a coach thinking about, 'Hey, who do I want playing middle linebacker?' he's going to be my first selection because I know I can count on every single play to be exactly where he needs to be, and he's going to do exactly what I tell him to do." — Former Browns left tackle and Hall of Famer Joe Thomas, who once played 10,363 snaps of professional football in a row without missing one, over 10 years without missing a single play. So yeah, he knows about consistency. (And he also played with Jake Delhomme.)
From one Mr. Charlotte to another
"I have bruises on my right arm sometimes from a game because he elbows me or hits me. And I do the same thing to him whether we're happy or sad, yeah, he's one of those. We're passionate people. We're not afraid to hug somebody or put our arm around somebody, and he's the same way.
"That's just him, man, He just gets it, he sees it. And I think the thing that I enjoy most about doing it with him, all we care about is that when you cut us, we bleed Process Blue. We just want us to win by any means necessary.
"And hopefully, the fans feel that, and I think they do in our voices. Like, it hurts when we lose, and we're super excited when we win. And he's so passionate about it because, one, he was Mr. Charlotte." — Former Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme, who now works as Kuechly's broadcast partner on the Panthers Radio Network.
"Demoralizing" opponents
"Playing against Luke was a complete nightmare. There's nothing worse as an offensive player than lining up in a play and a guy on the defensive side of the ball telling everybody else the play that you know you're running coming out of the huddle.
"There's nothing more demoralizing." — Former Cardinals wide receiver and Hall of Fame classmate Larry Fitzgerald, who did that to a lot of people over the years.
A general manager's dream
"As the saying goes, 'He jumped off the film; couldn't miss Luke Kuechly. And I remember coming back (from Boston College's pro day) the next day and having breakfast with (coach) Tony Dungy and always, the first thing he'd say, 'Who'd you see yesterday, who do you like?' and that kind of thing.
"And, I said, 'I saw a guy that, if we played him at will linebacker in our Tampa 2 defense, which was the featured position, he's going to rank right up there with Derrick Brooks.' So not surprising that he's in Canton; surprised that it took so long, to be honest.
"There have been a lot of great linebackers in Carolina, he's at the top of the list. We've put three linebackers into the Hall of Fame who are contemporaries in recent years who are contemporaries of Luke's. He's far and away the best of that group." — Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian, who built winners in Buffalo, Carolina, and Indianapolis.
Real recognize real
"I just wanted to be a part of Luke Kuechly's defense." — Hall of Fame defensive end Jared Allen, who was traded to the Panthers early in the 2015 season, allowing him to finish his career here alongside his future Hall of Fame teammate.
Welcome to the club
"I watched him as a former middle linebacker looking at another middle linebacker. He was so very active, all over the field, which I like. One who can pursue and chase down people. But he is very much worthy of the honor. He is going to be welcomed into that circle of linebackers, because he did make himself felt as a linebacker playing in the National Football League.
"As linebackers, we have a certain amount of pride that we carry with us, and we probably think that we are the best group in the room as opposed to a defensive lineman or defensive backs. It's an elite group of individuals who take great pride in playing the game, you have guys like a Dick Butkus and Sam Huff and Lawrence Taylor and Robert Brazile. They're in for life. That bronze bust will be there for the rest of his life and for the next 40,000 years, as it was told to me by my sculptor. So, anytime you're looking at greatness at the linebacker position, Luke Kuechly is an outstanding player. He's there." — Former Giants middle linebacker and Hall of Famer Harry Carson, who was born in Florence, S.C., and starred at South Carolina State.
Like an old Hollywood star
"I was really excited when I got assigned to Luke. Because he was a head that I wanted to sculpt, just artistically. As you're creating sculpture, just from the artistic end of it, strong bone structure looks really good three-dimensionally. Think of traditionally masculine actors like Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck. I mean, everything's kind of changed a little bit with what we think looks good nowadays because of airbrushing and everything. But, back in the day, you wanted a real, strong, masculine leading man. And he'd have an interesting nose, where Luke has that really cool nose that's been broken at least a time or two. And he has really strong cheekbones and a really defined mouth barrel. So he's got these really chiseled features. So it makes it, in a lot of ways, not necessarily easier to sculpt, but more fun because it's like not your typical big offensive lineman head that they have to eat like 20,000 calories a day, and they're all a little more filled out.
"Handsome isn't the right word, even though Luke's a very handsome guy, but it's more like that classical masculine look that you see in old movies from the 1950s and 1960s, like a Charlton Heston or Clint Eastwood. That's a more interesting face." — Hall of Fame sculptor Ben Hammond, who created Kuechly's bust at his Utah studio, and also the bust of fellow Panthers Hall of Famer Sam Mills. Kuechly was his 54th Hall of Fame bust.
"He was just different"
"I mean, this is where he belongs. There have been a lot of good players over the years at that position, certainly, but he was just different in ways that non-football people probably will never understand. He's in his rightful destination. First of all, the intensity with which he prepared, and a lot of people can prepare intensely, but can't put it on the field. He put it on the field, and you could see it. You could see how you could see how just special his knowledge was and how it translated to his athletic ability. It was just a joy to watch, man.
"Welcome to a fraternity you can never leave; it's pretty awesome. It's somewhat surreal, but in the greatest way possible because you know what you did, right? You know how you played, and everybody knows what Luke Kuechly was, but to be in a conversation and then finally see it happen is about as special an accomplishment as you can have. And it's not a pride thing. It's not even a gloating over other players thing. It's just a recognition of a job well done, continually well done." — Former Buccaneers cornerback and Hall of Famer Ronde Barber.
The identity of a franchise
"How the identity formed is you obviously have a young team, a young franchise, and young franchises are created by impact players. And I don't care what you say about our offense. When you talk about the Carolina Panthers, it starts with defense, man, and it starts with Sam, and it just goes on from there. Yeah, they had a few, some pretty decent players. They had a quarterback who won the MVP, right? They had a running back that was rookie of the year, yeah, had a receiver who was OK.
"But man, the linebacker corps, the lineage of the linebackers, when you talk about the Carolina Panthers, one, it starts with Sam Mills, and there's a laundry list of hell-of-a-football-players. And the best part, a lot of them were coached by Sam somehow, some way touched, and that's just, I don't care what people say, man, you just can't get around what was supposed to be, right?
"Man, Sam would have loved Luke. Every person that has been coached or interacted with Sam has a story of how Sam enhanced their life. Imagine what Luke would have been like if he was coached by Sam for about two years?" — Panthers Hall of Honor wide receiver and Sam Mills protege Steve Smith.
Cincinnati legend
"Oh, I was very aware of Luke Kuechly. My son played at Moeller, and he was at St. X, so we knew all about Luke Kuechly." — Former Bengals left tackle and Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz, who welcomed another Cincinnati legend to the Hall.
The love of the game
"The memory I have of Luke was after we lost to one of our archrivals the last game of his senior year. And whoever won that game advanced to the playoffs, and whoever lost it was out, and we lost a heartbreaker; I think it was 10-7. And after the game, it's a tradition: seniors would run; they'd run 300s. They hated running 300s during the summers and during the years that we're trying to get them in shape, but that's how they would end their careers; they would run 300s on the field.
"And I remember standing out there watching Luke just sobbing, because it meant so much to him. And I thought, that kid loves everything about this game, everything about this experience, everything about his teammates. I've never seen that kind of visceral reaction after the end of the season.
"You start talking about what makes players different? Well, that's one of them. Do you really love this game? And it was at that moment that you realize that young man loves this game." — St. Xavier (Cincinnati) High School coach Steve Specht, who coached Kuechly throughout his career, including a state championship his junior year.
He reminds me of someone I know
"It wasn't like somebody outside the building that you looked up to; it was actually my coach, so I think it was a lot different just having him on a day-to-day basis around me. But the cool thing about Sam is Sam. You would never know that he was a Hall of Fame linebacker. And it's kind of similar to Luke, too, where they're just both so humble. And that's what really makes them who they are and part of why they were such good football players.
"You want the guy that's standing in front of your huddle to be the identity of the defense and, honestly, like the team as well, to where everybody knows that person's setting the expectations and they're going to hold everybody around them to a high standard. Every great player and middle linebacker that I've known and been around, they all have those type of qualities, right?" — Panthers general manager Dan Morgan, who played under Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Mills, and watched Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly's career. If he thinks they're alike, then that means they are.
Reminds me of somebody I know, Part II
"You know, we talked about the Keep Pounding thing, but to be honest with you, for me, in a private moment, it was a marvel sometimes to come downstairs at night. It could be 7 or 8 p.m., and everybody else is going home, and Luke is in there watching film. And it will remind me of my Dad. It will remind me of the seriousness. It will remind me of the NFL Film clips where Dad's in the huddle saying, 'Hey, it's such and such down and distance, watch out for this, and they break the huddle, and he sees the formation, and he's calling out, hey, watch how this is coming here, this is coming here, right?
"So when I get to see Luke do it every day, it's a reminder. That's what I'm used to seeing; that's the linebacker play. And to see Luke operate, you know, I told my mother one day, because my mom knows football, right? But she doesn't always know, like, 'Hey, is this legit? Is this real?'
"And I told her one day, I said, up close and personal, this is the closest thing I've ever seen to Dad. This is it. He is legit 100 percent, and it is genuine. It's not a fake. It's not a fraud. I've seen him on the field. I've seen him with his teammates. I've seen him out in public with people, and it is 100 percent genuine." — Sam Mills III, the son of Hall of Famer Sam Mills, and the former assistant defensive line coach on the teams Kuechly played for.
Reminds me of somebody I know, Part III
"He really is so much like Sam. Sam deserves the credit because he was the foundation and made so many big plays in big moments. Same with Luke. He made big plays in big moments: the Seattle playoff game, the Dallas Thanksgiving Day game, the Arizona playoff game. His stats really belie the significance of the plays he made, and to me, that was his legacy. It's something you can hang your hat on.
"But if you did a chart with those names in the locker room, those guys had the common trait. They were accountable. Luke is as accountable as anybody I've ever met. And when it's the middle linebacker, that's got a carry-on effect for everybody, because those guys are the connectors; they are the signal callers. (Head coach) Ron (Rivera) talked about it; he was like, 'I never had to worry about messaging because I've got Luke in there doing it.'" — Former Panthers PR director Charlie Dayton, who was here from Day 1, on the similarities between the two Hall of Fame linebackers.
Not an investment banker, not close
"He stands out because he doesn't look like a linebacker; he doesn't look like a football player, right? So it makes him stand out more in a football facility. He looks like an in-shape investment banker. And then you meet him, and he's just, I mean, he's just the nicest guy ever.
"I just ran into him, and he didn't know who I was or didn't know who my family was. He just stopped, and we just chatted for 10 minutes, and I had to break up the conversation because he was just happy to make a new friend, right? He's just that type of guy. He reminds me of my father a lot, more even off the field than even his on-the-field heroics." — Marcus Mills, son of Sam Mills, who still lives in Charlotte.
"So frugal he squeaks"
"One other thing I forgot to say about him is that this guy is so frugal he squeaks. He probably still has his first paycheck. He don't spend that money, which is great. It's just indicative of who he is, just so humble. He's good at picking up tabs; he'll ante up and pull out the credit card for it.
"But I heard from a woman I work with on Rolexes; she said, 'Luke was just in here.' I said, 'What?' And then she said, 'But he bought something for his mom.' I said, OK, go figure, because I know he wasn't buying it for himself; that's not even him." — Former Panthers assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who perhaps best summed up what it was like to coach Kuechly when he described going to the meeting room. "We'd be walking to the elevator, and I'd just say to the coaches every day, 'You better be on your s--- today, because he's going to be on his.'"
Revealing his secret identity early
"It was on his draft visit, and the players come in, and you can kind of get a little bit of a feel for guys just by the way that they dress. Luke had a suit on, and it wasn't a Superman suit, but you know, maybe it was a Superman suit, and I just couldn't tell at the time.
"But he presented himself well, had presence, spoke well. You could tell he had a plan and how he wanted to approach the meeting and, and the day he was here with us, he handled himself extremely, extremely well. But, you know, when you're interviewing for a job, that's what it is, a job interview, and he handled it well." — Former Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.
Leaving "the best LB on the planet"
"People have said to me, when, after the 2017 season, I took another position in another organization, they said, 'Why would you ever leave?' And to a certain extent, they're right; they're right. But sometimes you have to move on and do things personally, but that lingers in the back of my mind as, man, you just left the best linebacker on the planet.
"But the relationship that we had has kept us close, so I don't feel so bad about it. But yeah, that's been mentioned to me by several different people. Why would you ever leave him? I don't think anybody ever really leaves Luke Kuechly because he follows people around and stays connected to them." — Former Panthers linebackers coach Al Holcomb, who left after the 2017 season to go to Arizona as head coach Steve Wilks' defensive coordinator.
How to "Luke-proof" a game plan
"Part of that whole week in preparation for that game would be looking at our self-scout: 'What's Luke looking at?' Until midnight. Then, 'How do we give him what he thinks he's studying and make it something else?' So this went back and forth. Twice a season, home and away. Give him this information; he's seen it three times, three times we've run this play from it. Then run something different. I would say it was exhausting, the preparation, because just the amount of self-scout and study to try to see what he's seeing. Because not only is he going to see it, he's going to make sure the rest of the defense quickly knows what's coming. There were a ton of battles won, battles lost, plays won, plays lost, all with someone who had tremendous football IQ. Then obviously with Drew (Brees), this gets back to the two of them with the dummy audibles, the dummy kills. They're staring at each other 5 yards apart for however many years. It was certainly a back-and-forth chess match between them." — Former Saints coach Sean Payton, on the twice-a-year matchups with the Panthers (8-8 regular season record from 2012-2019).
Trying to keep it low-key
"I didn't go to his pro day because I didn't want people to know how interested I was. I'm being serious. So when it was time to go, I didn't go to his pro day. I said I'm going off of what I saw. I'll go off the interviews; I'll go off the conversations, the one-on-one. I ran into him at the combine, and we had a conversation one-on-one, and that was more than enough for me.
"I'll tell you what, he was so smart. I mean, it was good. I can just remember asking him one question about one of their defenses, and he went through all 11 positions. He was so impressive, and like I said, I was at the point where I thought the less I showed up at BC, the better off we would be. And so I didn't go to his pro day. I stood on what I knew. I stood on our individual meetings and stuff like that, and I was going to stick to it." — Former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, whose background research on Luke Kuechly started decades earlier, in a roundabout way.
The secret scouting report
"At least maybe I was a little part of helping him get to Carolina. I'd be very proud of that.
"Tremendous kid, just a great kid, great family he's from. He's still a good friend with my son, just a guy that people gravitate to, and people follow. And people are happy to follow a guy who can do it on the field and is a great guy off the field." — Jim Morrissey of Equitable Advisors in Deerfield, Ill., who happened to play for the Chicago Bears with Ron Rivera, and whose son Mike happened to be Kuechly's roommate at Boston College. Sometimes the world is this big around.
Never a question about the pick
"I came back from the Thursday night game, Florida State and Boston College. I went up there live because I knew I had to go see him live. So I went up, I saw him live; he had about 25 tackles, sideline to sideline. I came back, and I said to Ron, 'This guy, he's instinctive, he's fast. If he can play downhill, he's going to be really something.' Ron had been talking to Morrissey the whole time, and obviously when you sit down with the kid, you love the kid. You know how much I value middle linebackers and guys who can run the defense.
"But Ron and I had several conversations. We knew who we were taking all the time." — Former Panthers general manager Marty Hurney, on the pre-draft deliberations during the 2011 season, as they considered what to do with what would eventually be the ninth overall pick.
Questions answered
"The more you're around Luke and the more he stood out. It was like, man, this guy's too good to pass up. But I think that was, ultimately, Luke was just one of those guys that just seemed like a great fit as a person in Charlotte, the culture of the team.
"I think there were some knocks. The knocks on him were: Is he physical enough? He was the sideline-to-sideline player. You saw him in BC just running everything down. You saw his athleticism, but I think some people, a little bit like when, when we took (Christian) McCaffrey, is he going to be able to hold up as an inside runner? I feel like that conversation came up a little bit with Luke. You saw the sideline-to-sideline, but you didn't see a knockback tackler, not that he was ever the biggest thumper, but I think he showed plenty of thump." — Bills general manager Brandon Beane, who was the Panthers director of football operations in 2012, before he was promoted to assistant GM in 2015. And yeah, both Kuechly and McCaffrey turned out OK.
Latching onto a legend early
"So we were talking, because the first question I was asked was about leadership and how he went about being a leader whenever he was playing. And then he looks at me and says, 'Can we watch some tape after we get done?'
"I was like, 'Hell, yeah.'" — Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd, who met with Kuechly before his first training camp here, eager to learn from the man he hopes to follow.
Learning from the master
"I love picking his brain. I love hearing what he's studying, what he sees, and for me, I mean, how often you get access to one of the smartest guys to ever touch the sport and get to pick his brain and try to see what he's seeing so I can try to improve myself?
"Obviously, for him, his pre-snap was so legendary. It's like, 'What are you looking at? What are you seeing from a play pass standpoint? I don't know if I want to reveal the specifics of what I've changed and what he's told me, but there's definitely some tells that he was like, 'Oh, I look for that.' So I was like, 'OK, I do that, so let me try and make sure I can eliminate that out of my game. It's been helpful for sure." — Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, who loves "talking ball" with Kuechly to improve his own game.
Passing along what he learned
"My rookie year, when I was on the scout team, the way he would just pick out what we were going to do before we did it. Just his ability to recognize formations or even like tidbits and what we're doing and to be able to do. We go out there, and he already knows what it is. Even on Wednesday, he came prepared. Wednesday, he knew what was going on.
"I'm like, 'Man, he's so ahead of the game.' He's so prepared for Sunday before Sunday happens. It was something just, it was, you know, quite it was it was amazing the way he was able to be ready. It's like, 'Wow, I really got to play with a legend. What an honor that is.' It's a responsibility in my eyes too, to try to help the new guys coming in, just show them whether it's by by actions or verbally, show them that 'Hey this is probably what you should be doing to help you stick around the league, or if you want to be successful this is what I learned, this is what didn't work for me, this is what did.'
"It's like what I learned from a Luke Kuechly, right? So I was blessed to be able to pass the knowledge along, and I feel like that's a responsibility I don't take for granted." — Panthers right tackle Taylor Moton, one of two players on the current roster who had the chance to play with Kuechly.
Work habits obviously rubbed off
"In my head I'm like, 'Damn, that's Luke Kuechly, and he knew who I was. He's like, 'What's up, Chuba, how are you doing?, blah blah blah.' We're just having an honest conversation, and in my head I'm like, 'Bro, how the hell does Luke Kuechly know who I am?'
"And that just shows who he is. He's such a genuine person and a good guy, obviously one of the best football players to ever grace the field, one of the best football players to come through this organization. So to have a guy like that around that is obviously of that caliber, but also just a genuine human being, you don't really meet humans like that, so it's very rare, and it's something I don't take for granted. I try to make sure other people don't take it for granted because it's not always like that." — Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard, who met Kuechly at a college awards show before he was drafted by the Panthers, and got to see Kuechly on a regular basis. If anyone prepares like Luke, it might be Chuba.
You'd (mostly) trust him with your kids
"The first picture I have with him is actually not me with him, but him holding my oldest son, Luke. He's holding him, but it's terrible ball security, terrible kid security, kind of off the hip. "And he's talking about how he's holding a baby; he clearly hasn't held a baby in 20 years, as bad as this was.
"So we take a quick picture of Luke and Luke, and my wife pulled him right back. But before she grabbed him, he told me, 'This is so good. I haven't held a baby in a long time. I remember back when my little brother Henry was a baby, I used to push the soft spot on the top of his head all the time.' And our Luke instantly got swiped right back up by his mom.
"So that's my first vivid memory of Luke, but the random acts of kindness he's always offering for sure. He is always offering to do things. Now, in my particular case, I don't know that I've ever taken him up on all the things he has certainly offered, because you're afraid he's going to poke your kids in the soft spot. Thankfully they're all grown through those phases." — Panthers long snapper JJ Jansen, who had the rare opportunity to play with Kuechly, and co-host a podcast with him. Even if he doesn't necessarily trust him as a babysitter.
Opposites attract, and compete
"It was amazing the way two polar opposites came together. Luke was a phenomenal player. I think Luke never gets the credit that he really deserves as an athlete. People always talk about how smart he is and how he's able to dissect plays beforehand. You can do that all day, but if you don't have the speed, if you don't have the athleticism and the wherewithal to be able to get to the plate after you know what's coming, then none of that s--- matters. He also was fast. He also was physical, and he loved the game of football. So those are the components that really made Luke Kuechly who he was, along with his competitive nature.
"He was another guy that absolutely loved to compete in everything that he did, man, and it just boded well with what we were able to do together because there was no point, whether it was practice, whether it was the meeting room, whether it was on the field, that we weren't competing against each other." — Panthers linebacker and longtime teammate Thomas Davis, who remembered the plays the made together, the way they pushed each other, and the fact that Kuechly was there at the hospital when he woke up from surgery on his broken arm the morning after the NFC Championship Game.
The lessons were simple
"He just told me to come in and work. He basically said we've got enough leaders; we just need some followers, and that's what I did since the first day I stepped in that building: just worked my ass off, because I always wanted that respect from the vets.
"Of course, you want Luke's respect, TD's respect, so you've just got to come in here and work, and that's what I did as a rookie. Shut up, shut up. I did my rookie duties, and I just let the cards fall into play, and I earned my respect." — Former Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson, on the night Kuechly took him out for tacos, explained the expectations and welcomed him into the fraternity of Panthers linebackers.
Competitors became brothers
"Luke's father wrote me a handwritten letter after his rookie year. And the detail of it reflected what he would talk to his dad about. And it was so detailed to the point where I knew that our relationship was being told in a way to an outsider that came through with flying colors. He could tell I cared for him.
"And, for a parent to just say 'Thank you,' to have that kind of impact, is one of the greatest things I've ever done in my career, easily the greatest thing I've done in my career. I'm happy about that. I feel really, really, really good about what I was able to do for the time that I had, and hang them up on that note.
"And then watch him go into the Hall, it's just perfect. Just a perfect ending." — Former Panthers linebacker Jon Beason, who passed the torch to Kuechly. They only played four games together, but there was a bond forged that stands the test of time.
His super power is listening
"He's a great listener. Like he's asking an intentional question as you're talking. He's giving you Larry King-like attention, and it's almost like I didn't realize it until later. When you talk to Luke, like he's just so welcoming with conversation, you know what I'm saying?" — Former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, on the way they developed their bond, and the way they pushed a team to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance in 2015.
Willing to be in on the joke
"He was mostly there just as somebody to listen in and laugh. Honestly, he was always willing to help. I would say he's more of a stagehand. He was a lights guy. He was maybe holding the boom. Anything he could do to help create a prank or something like that, he was going to do, but his quick wit was not up to par yet with his football speed, that's for sure. So I don't mean to say that he wasn't funny, but I cannot credit him with any of the creative talent that was taking place around then.
"It's just back to kind of like G-rated humor, you know what I mean? If no women or children would be offended in the making of the joke, he's all in, and he's still kind of that way." — former Panthers left tackle and comedic genius Jordan Gross, on Kuechly's sense of humor, and how Kuechly ingratiated himself with him and Ryan Kalil to be a less-frequent target of their video hijinks.
And willing to take on anyone
"I mean there's a certain hierarchy that certain people can make jokes. And I think if you're going to poke at Cam a little bit, you need to be Luke too. He was probably the one to get away with that." — Longtime NFL cornerback and legendary practical joker Charles "Peanut" Tillman, who played his final season here in 2015, just in time to see Kuechly show up on Halloween dressed as Cam Newton.
A comedian vouches for him
"Luke was the silliest I've seen someone out of the gate. Usually people need time to warm up to people, not Luke. He came out firing from his 'this is me' cannon and everyone was on board.
"In particular, I remember him making jokes about being solo at the wedding and he may need to crash on the floor of my room. I jokingly said 'we have the same body,' and he ran with it asking me how long I played and for what team. Just always in the bit boat." — Standup comedian and YouTube star Adam Ray, who found himself at the same table as Kuechly at Sam Darnold's wedding, and realized he wasn't the only funny one in the group.
Greatness became routine
""I'll never forget my rookie year, and we were on the bench and Greg Olsen saying, 'Luke Kuechly is my favorite player to watch in the NFL.' And that's when I started watching and really realizing how special it was.
"This is what happens with a lot of great players in the NFL, they're great all the time. So I never took it for granted, but a lot of people I felt might have, and they get used to seeing these incredible plays, they get used to seeing him fill gaps, literally when the ball was snapped, knowing where the play is going, they get used to seeing these interceptions, and these long returns, and these sacks, and these incredible tackles and plays, and, and it becomes monotonous and mundane. And I think that's one of the best signs of a great player, and that defines who Luke was.
"He was great for so long that it became the ordinary, and that is, to me, I always think that's like the biggest compliment is when people stop being in awe of you because it just becomes so routine." — Former Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, who was surprised when he was drafted by the Panthers because Kuechly picked him up at the airport and began teaching him about his new home. He was also cracking up at Kuechly and Ray riffing at Darnold's wedding.
Servant leader
"That was my view of him vocalizing and being assertive about something that's outside of himself; you know what I'm saying? It's the true art form of serving.
"He had a really good indicator on the personality traits that were around him. He had a really good emotional intelligence about him that makes him a really good teammate, but more importantly, it makes him a really good person to be around. He's assertive about those little things that bring the human aspect out of people." — Former Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart, recalling one of his first interactions with Kuechly his rookie year, when the first-round pick was leaving the athletic training room and asked if anyone needed anything to eat. Picking up food for others is one of Kuechly's things.
Treating everyone as equal
"He's making me look bad, because that's what I'm supposed to be doing. He's picking it up, throwing it away for everybody, and they're looking at him like, 'Who is this guy?' Like, we've never had talent literally take our plates and throw them away for us, right? But that's who he is.
"I think he's just grown. I mean, 2012 Luke is kind of wide-eyed. And he talks a lot about it; he was fortunate to go to a great locker room and have mentors and leaders he could learn from.
"And now I see him, and over time, he became that leader. He was the guy that took charge, and I'm not even talking about on the field stuff, just from a confidence standpoint, personality standpoint, and just wanting to take charge of everything, take care of everything, take care of the people he loves in his life. And I think he's, he obviously had that the whole time, but you just see the confidence in the person he's grown into, it's cool to see. I mean, it's just really, really, really cool to see. I'm just happy for him because he's so deserving." — Kuechly's longtime agent Howard Skall, who remembered the star linebacker picking up trash for the crew at commercial shoots, because who else was going to do it?
Respect of his peers
"I mean, it's always been his physical and mental capabilities. I mean, he's an unbelievable physical athlete, just from speed, size, hitting everything, but his mental game is second to none. He studied the game harder than anybody else. He knew what everybody on the field was supposed to do, his team and their team. And he diagnosed and read plays and reacted so much faster than anybody else.
"I mean that people love to pull up the mic'd up segments and everything, and the plays where he's calling out what they're going to do and everything, and that's unbelievable. But you still have to make the plays, and you're still going against the best athletes in the world, and he did it every single week." — Former Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt, who might have won four straight defensive player of the year awards if Kuechly hadn't broken in after the 2013 season.
High praise and history
"He's the most instinctive linebacker I've ever scouted in my entire career. No question." — Panthers scouting consultant and former NFL general manager Terry Bradway. He has been scouting for 44 years. He was on the USFL staff when they signed Sam Mills in 1983.
Paying attention to everything
"He's very in tune with every little element. I think what football has taught us all is just like the details, the little things, how important the little things are. So, I think from an organizational standpoint, Luke prioritized every little element of that building and just had such good relationships with everybody and just spent the time to really craft and grow those relationships. And he's just so good at making everybody feel a part of things, and because they are.
"I mean, who, who plays a bigger role in certain games than the equipment staff? Making things fun in the training room, having dinners brought in late when everybody's staying there. Just being the ultimate, ultimate team player." — Former Panthers safety and hunting buddy Colin Jones. They'd watch film of deer in the woods when they couldn't be in the woods hunting themselves. Yes, Luke Kuechly even studied film to hunt.
You can tell where it comes from
"Obviously, I didn't know Luke personally before I got there, but when I got the chance to meet his family, his parents, early on when they came and visited, I mean, it was clear to see why he is the way he is. He was raised in a good family and was taught respect. You could talk about the guys working the security station, coming into the building, the cook staff, the janitors, anybody and everybody in that building got talked to the same, treated with respect.
"And at the end of the day, we're all part of the same team. So, Luke definitely emulated that; he talked to everybody and treated everybody the same." — Former Panthers and Saints linebacker AJ Klein, who definitely got mistaken for Kuechly by fans when he made a tackle.
Making listeners smarter
"What I always tell the guys is you should prepare as if the coach turns around in the third quarter and points and says I need you to come in the game, that you would feel comfortable going in the game. That should be your preparation. It's as if I'm going to play today. So those guys take that very seriously, and they do that. They come in, and they're prepared as if they're going to play.
"It's got to be second nature whether it's Jordan, whether it's Jake, whether it's Luke, to overprepare like that to start with. I mean, it's part of the fun. It's part of the fun of doing it is preparing for it. And then once you get in there and things start to happen in front of you, you don't have to think. You're just reacting like you were when you were playing, right?"
"The one thing I always tell Luke is 'Make me smarter.' I want to watch this game, and I want you to give me something that I can then go to the bar after the game and sit with a bunch of dudes and say this is what's going to happen because Luke taught me that, and that's what he does is he makes me smarter." — Panthers Radio Network executive producer David Langton, who was not surprised to learn that Kuechly was a preparer.
At home in equipment room
"I think this level is Luke's favorite place in the world. He loves the locker room. He loves the guys, the camaraderie; he always fit in. The offseason would start, and Luke was here two weeks later, here all day just hanging out, not just talking football, but coming in and just talking life. He wasn't Luke Kuechly, the football player; he was just Luke. He makes you feel like he's one of you. There's no intimidation when he comes up and looks you in the eye and says, 'Hi, my name's Luke,' when you're introducing him to some new intern or a family member. It makes you feel comfortable.
"I remember being in the locker room putting shoulder pads on the players and looking back at the equipment room window, and there was Luke and Christian giving out gear. And having fun with it too, not bitching that they're having to do it. They took ownership of it." — Panthers equipment manager Don Toner, who is used to Kuechly showing up and pushing trunks and helping with their set-up before road games, calling him "our best worker." During COVID, when several members of the equipment staff couldn't work, Kuechly and McCaffrey started handing out towels and socks.
Trying to go unnoticed
"I think he just wants to help his friends. He wants to hang out with his friends. It's probably a way for him to feel that locker room camaraderie still, without being able to actually be involved in the locker room. He really just wants to be one of the guys. He doesn't want the attention." — Panthers assistant equipment manager Danny O'Toole, who, like the rest of the equipment staff, is protective over Kuechly when he enters their world.
Just one of the family
"Oh, we're going over to Bonnie's grandmother's house; we're just going to watch the game over there. What are you doing?" He said, 'Nothing.' I said, Well, dude, why don't you come? He literally comes over to Bonnie's grandmother's house and watches the game with us.
"He just walked in, hugged everybody, fixed himself a plate and sat down on the couch and watched the game with everybody. Just like he's one of the boys." — Panthers equipment assistant Greg Almond, on the time Kuechly drove to grandma's house to watch a game. Grandma lived in Hickory Grove, S.C., which is over an hour away from Bank of America Stadium. "Yeah, it wasn't like he was driving to South Park," Almond said.
Romantic evening at home
"So I answer the phone, and it's Luke. And he just says, 'Hey, I picked up some barbecue, can I come over and play with the dog?' And I'm like, 'OK, sure, Luke.' So he comes over and plays with the dog and eats.
"And at a certain point, Greg and I were going to watch a movie, and he was still there, so I asked him if he wanted to hang out.
"So there we were; me, my husband, and Luke Kuechly, sitting on the couch, watching 'The Notebook.'" — Panthers vice president of venue operations Bonnie Almond, who is also the wife of Greg Almond, on the way Kuechly would sometimes just show up on short notice, especially when they had a 120-pound Newfoundland named Paxton.
Intentional about people
"It takes a really cool person to just fit seamlessly into a lot of people's lives. And it's seamlessly; he's friendly, he's confident, he's a normal guy. I mean, he's got the Superman armor on, but he's a normal guy to all of us, and that's in the best way.
"He just, . . . he's intentional with the people that he enjoys, and he makes sure to ask each of those people about their specific lives." — Claire Stokes, the manager of football operations who helped Kuechly when he transitioned from playing to scouting, said the secret to Luke Kuechly is that it's all on purpose.
Doing the dirty work
"It was 2013 or 2014, and I was still on the Jugs machine, shooting kickoffs or punt drills. And the drill ends, and then you're getting the Jugs off the field as quick as you can, right, getting it out of the way so they can get on with the next period of practice.
"And I remember one day. I was getting the Jugs off, and I'm pushing it. All of a sudden, someone next to me starts helping me out. I look over, and it's Luke. And it's like he's coming off defensive rookie of the year or defensive player of the year, whatever it was, and here he is helping me push the Jugs off the field, right? That's just kind of an example of the guy he is." — Panthers director of football operations Mike Anderson, on Kuechly's willingness to help keep practice running, even though he was the star of it.
Just a normal guy
"I think he's trying to be normal in a world that's not conditioned to it. I think the most defining characteristic of him, honestly, is just being genuine. Why would he act differently? No one should know who Luke Kuechly is in Luke Kuechly's mind, right?
"I just think relationships genuinely matter to this guy. And he never let his stardom, his play ever get in the way of who he was. He never changed. He was the same. And that's what's so cool. I mean, now it's just fun. Now I'm just going to go have lunch with my buddy." — Former Panthers PR staffer Ryan Anderson, who is now the communications director for USA Football. To be on hand for Kuechly's induction ceremony in August before a work trip to Germany, he had to book a flight that went Canton-Akron to Chicago to Newark to London to Dusseldorf. These are the lengths people go to for Luke Kuechly.
Through a big brother's eyes
"He definitely knew how to push my buttons, and get me riled up. But he's always been a good brother, and he's there when I absolutely need him to be.
"But if I was sitting in the front seat and he was right behind me, he would definitely be poking me in the back of the head." — John Kuechly, Luke's older brother by a year and a half, and teammate on a high school state championship team at St. Xavier.
Looking up to Luke Kuechly
"He just loves looking after people, I think. I think he's looking for a daily purpose. He's looking to surround himself with that camaraderie. I think he misses the locker room, and he misses like-minded people that want to just throw themselves at something and be the best at it. It's kind of hard to find that, I think, in everyday life sometimes.
"And then I think also, I think he's looking for someone or something to take care of, which I think he wants to have a family one day, and I think he would be an incredible dad because of how selfless he is, and I think that's kind of part of that purpose.
"But I think he's just looking for something to hang his hat on and say this is what I do day in and day out. This is my thing. He wants to do something. But I think he's close, though. He's close to finding it." — Henry Kuechly, Luke's younger brother by seven years, who lives with him in South Charlotte and has been through many adventures with him, from basement football games to epic hikes in the Grand Canyon.
Luke Kuechly will be honored at halftime of Sunday's game against the Buccaneers, and presented with his Ring of Excellence by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And thousands of fans at Bank of America Stadium will get to add to the voices celebrating him, one LUUUUUUUKE at a time.
See photos of Panthers legend Luke Kuechly during his weekend in Canton, Ohio for his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
