Robert John Kuechenberg was an American professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins for 14 seasons between 1970 and 1983, spending the 1984 season on injured reserve.
27 Facts About Bob Kuechenberg
1.
2.
Bob Kuechenberg was a mainstay in a line that included Hall of Famers Jim Langer, Larry Little, and Dwight Stephenson and played in six Pro Bowls in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
3.
Bob Kuechenberg was selected as one of the top 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame from 2002 to 2006, and one of the top 17 finalists from 2007 to 2009, but missed the cut every year.
4.
Bob Kuechenberg was inducted into the Miami Dolphin's Honor Roll on December 15,1995.
5.
Bob Kuechenberg was the brother of the retired Chicago Bears linebacker Rudy Kuechenberg.
6.
Bob Kuechenberg was born on October 14,1947, in Gary, Indiana to Rudy and Marion Bob Kuechenberg, and grew up in Hobart, Indiana.
7.
Bob Kuechenberg attended Hobart High School, and played football for the Hobart Brickies during high school.
8.
Bob Kuechenberg called his father the toughest man he ever knew, and said his father had such occupations as iron worker, boxer, rodeo clown, and human cannonball.
9.
Bob Kuechenberg attended college at the University of Notre Dame, where he studied economics, earning a Bachelor's degree in 1969.
10.
Bob Kuechenberg played both the offensive and defensive lines for the Fighting Irish, including offensive tackle and defensive tackle on Notre Dame's 1966 National Championship team.
11.
Bob Kuechenberg was a starting offensive tackle on the 1966 team.
12.
Bob Kuechenberg quit shortly after training camp started and played a season with the Chicago Owls in the Continental Football League.
13.
Bob Kuechenberg signed with the Dolphins as a free agent in 1970.
14.
Bob Kuechenberg was named 1st team All-Pro in 1975 and in 1978 and was named All-AFC three times.
15.
Bob Kuechenberg was the only Dolphins player to play in five Super Bowls, winning in 1972 and 1973.
16.
Bob Kuechenberg gets up every year and complains about something.
17.
Bob Kuechenberg was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
18.
In 2013, President Barack Obama honored the entire 1972 Perfect Season Dolphins at an event in the White House, but Bob Kuechenberg declined to attend for political reasons.
19.
Bob Kuechenberg was a finalist on a number of occasions for the Hall of Fame, but has not made it.
20.
Bob Kuechenberg played Super Bowl VIII with a fractured arm.
21.
Bob Kuechenberg completed a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, even though he had suffered a broken ankle.
22.
Bob Kuechenberg played much of 1977 with two bone fractures in his back.
23.
Bob Kuechenberg's career ended after an eye injury in 1983.
24.
Bob Kuechenberg was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.
25.
Bob Kuechenberg was diagnosed posthumously, and among six Dolphins from the 1972 team diagnosed with CTE.
26.
Bob Kuechenberg likely had thousands of head hits during the years he played football.
27.
Bob Kuechenberg died of a heart attack on January 12,2019.