Luke Kuechly
Luke Kuechly was born in Evendale, Ohio, United States on April 20th, 1991 and is the Football Player. At the age of 33, Luke Kuechly biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 33 years old, Luke Kuechly has this physical status:
College career
Kuechly attended Boston College, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), where he played for the Boston College Eagles football team from 2009 to 2011.
Kuechly emerged as the Eagles' starting lineup outside linebacker after Mark Herzlich revealed he would miss the season after being diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. He finished the season with 158 tackles (87 solo), he led the team and conference, as well as ranking second nationally (first among freshmen). He was the first true freshman in the team to lead the team in tackles and almost beat the freshman tackle record set by Stephen Boyd in 1991. He was also suspended and returned an interceptor for a touchdown. He was named the 2009 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and spent time on the 2009 CFN All-Freshman Defensive Team for his work. The true freshman Kuechly was appointed by CFN to its All-America staff.
Kuechly made the switch to middle linebacker at the start of his sophomore season. He went on to lead the country with 183 tackles (110 solo) and a streak of 21 straight games with at least 10 tackles at the end of the season. Kuechly was selected a finalist for the Butkus Award and the Nagurski Award. He set a new school single season record for tackles, beating the previous record of 165, which was set by Tom McManus in 1991. Kuechly was named a unanimous first-team All-American after the season. In 2007, he was the first consensus All-American for the Eagles since Jamie Silva in 2007. At the end of the season, Boston College played in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (the same bowl as the Emerald Bowl from previous seasons with a change of corporate sponsorship) and Kuechly was named the defensive MVP for a second time.
During the season, Kuechly led the nation in 191 tackles (102 solo), averaging nearly 16 tackles per game. Kuechly compiled his stats in the 12-game regular season as the team finished with a 4-8 record and was ineligible for post-season play. Despite almost breaking the NCAA Football Bowl Subscription (FBS) single-season tackle record (193, which was set by Lawrence Flugence in a 14-game season), he did break the single season tackles-per-game record with 15.9 (previously held by Rick Sherrod with a 15.6 average over a 10-game season). He set new personal and conference single-season tackle records, which were not established a year ago.
Kuechly set the Boston College and ACC career tackle record with 532 tackles, eclipsing Stephen Boyd's previous record of 524 tackles but just 13 short of Tim McGarigle's NCAA FBS record. Dick Butkus awarded Kuechly the 2011 Butkus Award at the Boston College team banquet on December 4, a week before the recipient's formal announcement. Kuechly received the Lombardi Trophy, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy for the second year in a row, and was named as a consensus first-team All-American.
Professional career
Kuechly declared on January 6, 2012, that he did not want to skip his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2012 NFL Draft. Mel Kiper Jr. ranked him tenth on his "Big Board" at the time of his unveiling, while Todd McShay ranked him thirteenth in his "Top 32." Kuechly sparked any remaining questions about his athleticism with his appearance at the combine and pro day workouts, demonstrating rare pass coverage abilities that could make him a "three-down" inside linebacker (i.e. Not subbed out on obvious passing downs, which boosted his draft stock even more.
Kuechly was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round; the first linebacker was chosen and the ninth overall pick. Kuechly signed a four-year, $12.58 million deal on May 10, 2012.
Kuechly started the season as an outside linebacker rather than a middle linebacker; head coach Ron Rivera chose veteran Jon Beason to start Kuechly as the starting middle linebacker due to his work. Kuechly was promoted to middle linebacker when Beason was put on injured reserve due to a torn Achilles tendon. Rivera also announced that Kuechly would be the team's long-term starter at that position despite Beason's return from injury. Kuechly won the NFC Defensive Player of the Week award in December after a career-high 16 tackles in the final five games of the season in a 30-20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 14. Since Julius Peppers was named the second Panther to receive the award, he became the second Panther to be named. Kuechly led the league with 164 tackles in the regular season, with eight pass deflections, one arrest, two interceptions, and three fumble recoveries. He was named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Football Weekly's Defensive Rookie of the Year award, and Pro Football Weekly named him Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Although not being an official statistic reported by the NFL, Panthers coaches credited Kuechly with a franchise record 205 tackles, beating James Anderson's 174 set in 2011, and becoming the first rookie to lead the NFL in that division since Patrick Willis in 2007. Kuechly was ranked as the 79th best player on the NFL Top 100 list.
Kuechly brought his game to a whole new level in his second season as the team's second-bestowl leader. In Week 10, he was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in a 10–9 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Kuechly finished with 24 tackles and one interception in a game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, where the Carolina Panthers defeated and advanced to the playoffs. Kuechly's 24 tackles tied for the most tackles in a game in a game. Following the film review, the number was increased to 26, which is six tackles more than James Anderson's previous team record and a new NFL single game record. For his game against the Saints, he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Kuechly was selected to the 2014 Pro Bowl, where he had a teammate high 12 tackles for Team Sanders. Kuechly was named to the 2013 All-Pro Team and named as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press, alongside Lawrence Taylor as the only NFL players to win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and NFL Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive years. Kuechly earned both awards, including Taylor, Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Dana Stubblefield, Charles Woodson, Brian Urlacher, and Terrell Suggs. Kuechly was ranked as the 15th best player in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2014 list.
Kuechly had nine tackles, a sack, a compelled fumble, and a tipped pass that resulted in an interception in the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Kuechly had 11 tackles and two pass deflections in a Week 2 game against the Detroit Lions, leading to a 24-7 victory. Kuechly was credited with 15 tackles without a missed tackle and allowed only 47 yards on nine receptions in coverage during the Panthers' Week 5 victory over the Chicago Bears. Pro Football Focus has rated Kuechly as the best inside linebacker in the NFL over the first five games of the season. Kuechly was suspended for making inadvertent contact with a government official on Week 7 against the Green Bay Packers; while trying to climb a pile, Kuechly was grabbed from behind by an official. Kuechly swung his arm, resulting in his dismissal, despite not knowing it was an official. Kuechly may not have been suspended after the NFL found that he should not have been suspended. Kuechly completed the regular season with 153 tackles, three sacks, one forced fumble, and a career-high 12 pass deflections. He was elected to the Pro Bowl and then named to the NFL All-Pro First-Team for the second season in a row. For the second time, he received the Butkus Award for the second time, joining Von Miller and Patrick Willis as the only two players to win the award in both college and NFL.
Kuechly made three defensive stops, 10 tackles, one interceptor, and two pass defenses, one of which he tipped directly to Tre Boston for another interception during the Panthers' 27–16 Wild Card Round victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Kuechly was credited with eight total tackles (two solo and six assisted) during the Panthers' Divisional Round loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He was ranked 14th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.
Kuechly signed a five-year, $62 million contract with the Panthers on September 10, 2015, making him the NFL's highest-paid middle linebacker by annual average salary. Kuechly sustained a concussion during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and left the game early in the season opener. He missed the Panthers' first home game of the 2015 season the following week after the Houston Texans defeated the Houston Texans. During the Panthers' Week 6 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle, Kuechly returned to the field. He made 14 tackles and eight defensive stops during the game. Kuechly maintained his form during the Panthers' victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, with 11 defensive stops, one tackle-for-loss, one pass defense, and one quarterback strike.
During a Monday Night Football victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Kuechly posted a season-high 14 tackles. In overtime, he had three passes defensed and an interceptor to set up a Graham Gano game-winning field goal. Kuechly continued his good play against the Green Bay Packers on Wednesday, where he had a team-high nine tackles and four stops to go along with his fifth pass defense of the season. Kuechly converted a fumble for the second time in his career against the Tennessee Titans in 27-10 victory. Kuechly had four tackles, one forced fumble, and a fumble recovery next week following the Panthers' 44-16 victory over the Washington Redskins, who then improved them to 10-0. In a 33-14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys last week, Kuechly recorded 7 tackles, 2 passes defenses, and 2 interceptions for 49 yards and a touchdown, which helped Carolina reach 11-0. Kuechly made his first pick on back-to-back plays from scrimmage since 1997 and increased his career total to 10, the most among all linebackers since 2012. In addition, his pick 6 was the first one of his NFL career and the first one since being drafted in Boston College in junior. For his appearance during the game, he was named All-Iron Award and NFC Defensive Player of the Week; it was his fourth time in his career; a new Panthers' franchise record was set.
Kuechly's 17.6 run-stop percentage was the highest for any defensive player during the first 12 weeks of the season, despite being ranked first for all defensive players, regardless of position with at least 100 snaps against the run. Kuechly was one of seven linebackers with 30 or more tackles in the run game, with just one missing tackle. Kuechly had three interceptions and four passes were blocked with no touchdowns allowed in coverage. When targeted in reporting at 47.4 percent, he had the second-lowest passer rating among all linebackers, and only one of the only three linebackers with more than 25 tackles was missed. Kuechly scored his fourth interception of the season against quarterback Matt Ryan during the Panthers' win over the Atlanta Falcons on Week 14. His 11 interceptions in his career are the most since any linebacker has played since being drafted in 2012. Kuechly totaled 15 tackles as the Panthers defeated the New York Giants 14-0, their first victory since 2014. Kuechly was the winner of PFF's inaugural Dick "Night Train" Lane Award, which was given to the defender who had the best in pass-coverage over the course of the season. Kuechly led all linebackers in allowing just 48.7 percent of his passer ratings to be published (playoffs included).
In the NFC Divisional Round, Kuechly intercepted Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson early in the first quarter and returned the ball 14 yards for a touchdown to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead. In the Panthers' 49-15 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship, he delivered another "pick six" late in the Panthers' 49–15 victory. Kuechly played for the Panthers in Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016. In the game, he had 10 tackles and a sack, but the Panthers lost by a score of 24-20. Kuechly will perform surgery to repair a torn labrum ten days after. According to reports, he suffered from the injury throughout the season.
Kuechly was named to his third straight Pro Bowl, his third straight first-team All-Pro, and ranked as the sixth best player by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
Kuechly played ten games before suffering a concussion in Week 11, keeping him out the remainder of the season. Despite the concussion and missing six games, Kuechly still had over 100 tackles, two sacks, six passes defensed, and one intercept. He played his fourth straight Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro, while his fellow players ranked him 20th in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 as the highest ranked middle linebacker.
Kuechly won by 23–3 over the San Francisco 49ers on September 10, 2017 in the season's opener 23–3, with five solo tackles and two assisted tackles. Kuechly was put into concussion management after appearing to be suffering his third concussion in as many seasons during a Thursday Night Football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, but this was just a precaution. Kuechly had approved the concussion technique on October 27, 2017. On October 29, he made his Tampa Bay Buccaneers' return to action with six solo tackles, two assisted tackles, and an interceptor kick off of a Jameis Winston pass. In Week 36, Kuechly led to a 35-27 victory over the New York Jets with a strip-sacked fumble 34 yards for the touchdown, earning him the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Kuechly was named to his fifth straight Pro Bowl on December 19, 2017. For the fourth time, he received First-team All-Pro recognition. He was ranked 12th in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
In the 16–8 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, Kuechly kicked off the 2018 season with 13 combined tackles. He intercepted his first interception on the season in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals. In the 21–17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, he once more combined tackles to go along with a quarterback hit on October 21, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles. In Week 14, he had two forced fumbles against the Cleveland Browns. He appeared in all 16 games, 130 total tackles, five quarterbacks, one interceptor, six passes defense, and two forced fumbles on the 2018 season. He was named as a First-Team All-Pro for the fifth time in his career. He was selected for his sixth straight Pro Bowl, which he escaped from. He was ranked 24th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019.
Kuechly had 17 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and attacking running back Peyton Barber in his own endzone for a security in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losing by 20-19. Luke Kuechly had a game-high 12 tackles and the game-sealing pass deflection on the last play in Week 5 of the regular season. He also reached a record of 1,000 tackles, becoming the first NFL player to do so in his first eight seasons and the youngest to do so in only 107 games. Kuechly made his first interception of the season off Jameis Winston in London in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6. In Week 8, Kuechly led the San Francisco 49ers to a victory by throwing a team high 10 tackles and intercepted Jimmy Garoppolo once more. During the 30–24 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Week 15, Kuechly scored a team high 17 tackles. Kuechly finished with 144 total tackles, 12 passes defense, two interceptions, and one safety in the 2019 season. For the seventh time, he was selected to the Pro Bowl.
Kuechly resigned on January 14, 2020, a year ago.
Kuechly was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Team for the 2010s.
Post-playing career
Kuechly considered becoming a broadcaster or coach before deciding to enter scouting. On June 4, 2020, he rejoined the Panthers as a pro scout. In the 2021 offseason, Kuechly resigned from his scout job.
In August 2021, he was seen at a Buffalo Bills practice assisting his former defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.