CHARLOTTE — For the current members of the Carolina Panthers, Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly isn't some abstract concept or a guy on a pedestal.

He's the guy they see on the practice field, and in pregame warmups, and walking through the building like a regular guy.

So the idea that he's close enough to touch — and have normal human conversations with — still blows their minds.

"It's good just to be able to be that close to greatness," cornerback Jaycee Horn said. "He's one of the best to do it, to be around here before the game on Sunday. Every time he comes in, he grabs my pads, slams them on the ground, makes sure they're warmed up. So just being able to have a little bit of a relationship with him is special.

"Just to have him around, to feed off that greatness, just to see his face on Sunday, it gives you a little bit of an edge."

Horn mentioning the pads is consistent with Kuechly's character. When he's around Bank of America Stadium or on the road, he's as likely to be in the equipment room as anywhere else, and they've learned that just because he's one of the greatest to ever play his position, he's still accessible in a way people might not expect.

"You would never know that's a Hall of Fame player that you're talking to, just based off of how he treats people," quarterback Bryce Young said. "His energy and positivity and willingness to have those conversations with me, not because I was the new quarterback coming in; he will have that conversation with about anyone, which speaks to his character."

And for all these guys in their 20s who grew up watching Kuechly, that's still something they're wrapping their heads around. These are all NFL players, and they'll still have a "Hey, that's Luke Kuechly" moment.

Safety Tre'von Moehrig still remembers seeing his highlights on YouTube, and said the first time he met Kuechly in person, he was standing by the weight room door, hanging with equipment manager Don Toner and assistant Danny O'Toole.

That tracks.

"He's a guy I see passing at the elevator; I just see him around the building 24/7, man," Moehrig said with a shake of his head. "You just know he wants to be here and be a part of what we're building here in this new year.

"Plus, he's so normal. He's a cool guy, down to earth. So I'm glad to have him in the building, and I chop it up with him when I can. He's a great guy, and a humble guy. He was a physical player, great teammate, and I feel like just a great leader overall. I feel like he had all the intangibles of just a great player, making everybody else around him better."

That's pretty good film study on Moehrig's part, but some of the older guys have heard the legends passed down from the other elders.

Defensive tackle Derrick Brown just missed playing with Kuechly, arriving in the draft three months after Kuechly retired. But Brown has had so many conversations with Shaq Thompson about Kuechly that he feels like he was there.

"He retired right as I was coming in; that sucked for me, but the legacy he left with Shaq and all those guys, that's what I think about when I'm here, right?" Brown said. "Once I got here, and seeing his game more and more, obviously being here seeing it over time, it's an awesome thing to see.

"You have dreams and aspirations to chase that place (Canton), have the opportunity to be able to chase it and to see guys like Luke and Julius had that and Sam have that opportunity to come to fruition for them, just salute to them."

Linebacker Devin Lloyd caught up with Kuechly and ended up watching film before training camp started. They also talked about leadership and the tradition of linebackers here.

"Yeah, I mean, it's a blessing first of all; it's a great opportunity," Lloyd said. "Just for one to have that resource, but then also, this city being used to watching great linebacker play, it's something I don't take lightly. And I'm just trying to do everything I can to continue that legacy, right?"

Even relative newcomers like Jaelan Phillips and Robert Hunt are still getting used to seeing a Hall of Famer walk casually through the building.

Phillips called Kuechly: "Probably the quintessential expert when it comes to someone taking film study and applying it to the game. I mean, you see all those plays of him calling out the play and doing the exact thing, knowing exactly what's going on, and I think that goes to show how your preparation before the game can be equally as important as anything that's happening on the field. He did the best out of anybody I've ever seen."

Hunt said he couldn't even imagine what it would be like to play against him, having seen modern analogs like Fred Warner.

"When I got here, I'd never seen him before, so obviously seeing him up close was pretty cool," Hunt said. "I shook his hand on the plane one time. I'm like, 'Yo, I'm Rob Hunt.' It's cool to see guys like that as Hall of Famers come back and be around teams like that. That's kind of how Dan Marino was in Miami.

"I think it's good for the players to see, especially like the homegrown guys, you know, to see something like that just to keep striving for greatness, the Jaycee Horns, the Derrick Browns, the guys that have been here a while to see somebody like them that got drafted here to play here a long time and do something great just like how they are.

Hunt's not the only one quick to introduce himself to Kuechly. For running back Chuba Hubbard, it happened in an elevator in Connecticut at a college awards ceremony.

'In my head I'm like 'Damn, that's Luke Kuechly, and he knew who I was," Hubbard said. "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."

Hubbard, who is one of the leaders of this place because of his work ethic, said Kuechly's presence is a reminder of what it's supposed to look like.

"He set the standard, you know what I mean?" Hubbard said. "It shows guys that like, I was a great player, I was a great human, I did all the right things, and obviously he was rewarded, deservingly so. Having a guy like that around and just his presence, especially for the young guys, that are aspiring to obviously get their foot in the door, be something great, especially for me, I want to be one of the great Panthers to come through here, so being able to even talk with him, pick his brain, take anything, even if it's something small, it goes a long way.

"Not every team obviously is able to have Hall of Fame players just walk around and be able to have a normal conversation, let alone normal people in this life. So like I said, it's not something I take for granted."

Similarly, Young ran into Kuechly briefly when on draft weekend in 2023, but said the next time they spoke, it was like they had known each other forever.

"The next time I saw him, we were having a 20-minute conversation about ball," Young said. "Which again just speaks to him being around and the type of guy he is.

I've watched so much; you see he's a legend, you see so much about him breaking down film, and you see so much about how he played the game and how much he put in. So he was exactly like that. From the outside looking in, he could appreciate you even if you ask him about his kids' team; he could go on for a while, tell you all the stuff they're doing."

Of course, Young also loves to "talk ball" with Kuechly, because any quarterback with the opportunity to study with one of the best play-identifiers ever should avail himself to it.

"I love picking his brain," Young said. "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?

Young said his conversations with Kuechly, particularly about the pre-snap operation, have been invaluable.

"Obviously for him, his pre-snap was so legendary," Young said. "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."

Of course, most of these guys never got to see it on a daily basis.

Long snapper JJ Jansen was here for his entire career, the start and the finish, but that's true of a lot of players to pass through Bank of America Stadium. They host a podcast together, and have gotten past Kuechly's early efforts at babysitting.

Taylor Moton was drafted in 2017 and got to play three seasons with Kuechly, and it made an impression on him.

"It was definitely a blessing getting to play with him and getting to learn from him as a young player," Moton said. "Because he really just, from afar, taught me the importance of preparation, the importance of laying it all out there on the line, the importance of attention to detail, the importance of just being ready to rock game in, game out, day in, day out, and just that consistency.

"I am just asking him about what his whole deal is, not just during the season but even the offseason, all year round, he's preparing. It was obviously the special plays. I don't need to tell you that, but it was awesome being able to learn from him as a young player."

Moton's first year was spent backing up All-Pro Daryl Williams, so he got to go against Kuechly in practice quite often.​

My rookie year when I was on scout team, the way he would just pick out what we were going to do before we did it," Moton said. "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.'"

Those lessons clearly rubbed off on the 31-year-old Moton, who has achieved "Unc" status in the locker room because of maturity beyond the chronological. Moton's the guy young guys look at now, and he'll make sure guys pick up their towels, treat people with respect, and put in the time to prepare.

"It's a surreal moment; it's like 'Wow,' I didn't really think it would be to where I'm at now," Moton said. "Everyone's calling me OG and Unc in the locker room and all that, but ultimately it's a blessing, man. 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."