SAN FRANCISCO — Luke Kuechly's still new to this Hall of Fame thing, and can be in mid-conversation when a Marcus Allen or a Thurman Thomas will come in for a hug.

That's something he's getting used to, but something he'd better.

The Panthers linebacker was welcomed to his new club with a star-studded group of classmates on Friday at the annual Merlin Olsen luncheon, and they're ready to welcome him because he belongs.

Former Giants linebacker Harry Carson just smiled and nodded when asked about Kuechly, and said he's eager to get to know his new teammate.

"I watched him as a former middle linebacker looking at another middle linebacker," Carson said. "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."

When a Harry Carson is willing to vouch for your ability to run and hit and direct a defense, you've done something. And that was the kind of greeting Kuechly received throughout the event. Whether he's willing to acknowledge it or not, he's fitting in comfortably here as one of the top players of his generation and all time.

Former Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber has seen it up close — his final season in the league was the year Kuechly won defensive rookie of the year in 2012, and they continued to cross paths in Barber's broadcasting work. So that nod of recognition Barber gave him, that's what respect looks like.

"I mean, this is where he belongs," Barber said. "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."

Different? A guy who works so hard to fit in as an everyman? Yes, Barber said, different in the way he played the game, the way few others could.

"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," Barber said. "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 it was 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."

And they all recognized him. He was in mid-conversation with 2025 inductee Eric Allen when legendary Washington cornerback Darrell Green stopped by to say hello. It was constant, even when he walked up onto the stage behind all the previous Hall of Famers, and LeRoy Butler turned around for a fist-bump, and John Lynch shook his hand.

They recognize the things in Kuechly that make him special and make him belong.

Carson, who was born in Florence, S.C., and starred at South Carolina State before his 13-year career with the Giants that included nine Pro Bowls, six All-Pros and a Super Bowl ring, said Kuechly was the model of what a linebacker should be. And they have a high standard, and they talk.

"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," Carson said with a laugh. "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."

Carson was elected in his seventh year as a finalist, and his 13th year of eligibility, in 2006. Brazile, who was known as Dr. Doom for his work with the Houston Oilers, was inducted as a senior in 2018, 30-plus years after he played. So they also know about waiting, and said the fact Kuechly had to wait an extra year to be inducted was no longer a factor.

"All you have to do is look and see who's there; they didn't have to tell you anything. I think I could sum that up in one word: validation," Brazile said. "You have an opportunity. I can remember when I was a kid wanting to be like these guys in high school, and wanting to imitate them. Then, when you're finally sitting in the same room with them, and they'll welcome you to this elite group of people, you'll say, hey, I'm in the right place now. It took me 30 years, but when I got there, all these guys said, 'Come on in.' You can hardly believe that those guys who were the creme de la creme who were there to welcome us in — Willie Lanier, Sam Huff, Dick Butkus, and all of a sudden, all of a sudden, you're there rubbing shoulders with these guys.

"Harry got something in his coat. I got something in my coat. There'll never be another No. 312. There'll never be another 231."

Kuechly is Hall of Famer 386, that's the number that will be embroidered into his jacket when he puts it on in August. But the recognition didn't wait, as player after player came up to hug him, to dap him up, to recognize him as a peer.

During Thursday night's ceremony, Kuechly talked about being in awe of players he saw at the 2012 NFL Honors, bumping into Jerry Rice, and about the "kid from Cincinnati, Ohio" seeing legendary Bengals tackle Anthony Munoz in person.

Now, they have more in common than the other Queen City.

Munoz laughed and said, "Oh, I was very aware of Luke Kuechly," even from his days as a prep star in Cincinnati. Munoz's son played at Moeller, so the linebacker at St. Xavier was on everyone's radar in those days.

"I'm not surprised that his name was announced last night because the player he was," Munoz said simply.

And as one of the elder statesmen for the Hall, the 67-year-old Munoz had a simple request for Kuechly once he's inducted.

"I would say don't stay away. Come back. It's your home, man," Munoz said. "I'm one of the older guys now, you hear the passion. When I first got in, I had guys like, you know, Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen and Jim Brown, and they talked about the passion of coming back to Canton, and it's a brotherhood. I mean, he's got his St. X fraternity, he's got his Boston College, Panthers, now he's got this new fraternity."