Luke Kuechly was drafted by the Panthers ninth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft.
74 Facts About Luke Kuechly
2.
Luke Kuechly had an immediate impact during his rookie season, as he led the NFL in tackles and won the Associated Press 2012 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, becoming the third youngest recipient in its history.
3.
In 2013, Luke Kuechly became the youngest recipient of the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in its history.
4.
Luke Kuechly resigned from his position a year later in 2021.
5.
Luke Kuechly was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in Evendale, Ohio.
6.
Luke Kuechly attended St Xavier High School in the Finneytown area of Cincinnati, where he played linebacker and safety for the football team.
7.
Luke Kuechly was a two-time All Greater Catholic League selection at St Xavier, gaining first-team honors in 2008.
8.
Luke Kuechly attended Boston College, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, where he played for the Boston College Eagles football team from 2009 to 2011 under head coach Frank Spaziani.
9.
Luke Kuechly finished the season with 158 tackles, which led the team and conference, as well as being second nationally.
10.
Luke Kuechly was the first true freshman in team history to lead the team in tackles and almost broke the freshman tackle record set by Stephen Boyd in 1991.
11.
Luke Kuechly returned an interception for a touchdown against Central Michigan.
12.
Luke Kuechly moved to middle linebacker at the beginning of his sophomore season.
13.
Luke Kuechly went on to lead the country with 183 tackles and had an ongoing streak of 21 straight games with at least 10 tackles at the end of the season.
14.
Luke Kuechly was named a finalist for the Butkus Award and the Nagurski Award.
15.
Luke Kuechly broke the school single season record for tackles, topping the previous record of 165, held since 1991 by Tom McManus.
16.
Luke Kuechly was the first consensus All-American for the Eagles since Jamie Silva in 2007.
17.
Boston College played in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at the end of the season and Luke Kuechly was named the defensive MVP for a second time.
18.
Luke Kuechly led the nation with 191 tackles during the season, averaging nearly 16 tackles per game.
19.
Luke Kuechly broke his own team and conference single-season tackle records set just a year earlier.
20.
In only three seasons of play, Luke Kuechly set the Boston College and ACC career tackle records with 532 tackles, eclipsing the previous record of 524 held by Stephen Boyd and only 13 short of the NCAA FBS record held by Tim McGarigle.
21.
Luke Kuechly went on to win the Lombardi Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American for the second consecutive year.
22.
On January 6,2012, Luke Kuechly announced his intention to forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2012 NFL Draft.
23.
Luke Kuechly was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round: the first linebacker selected and the ninth overall pick.
24.
On May 10,2012, Luke Kuechly signed a 4-year, $12.58 million contract.
25.
Luke Kuechly began the season at outside linebacker instead of middle linebacker; After considering Luke Kuechly as starting middle linebacker, head coach Ron Rivera decided to start veteran Jon Beason at middle linebacker due to his experience.
26.
When Beason was placed on injured reserve due to a torn Achilles tendon, Luke Kuechly was moved to middle linebacker.
27.
Luke Kuechly became the second Panther after Julius Peppers to receive the award.
28.
Luke Kuechly led the league with 164 tackles during the regular season and recorded eight pass deflections, one sack, two interceptions, and three fumble recoveries.
29.
Luke Kuechly was awarded the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and received the Defensive Rookie of the Year award from Pro Football Weekly.
30.
Luke Kuechly was rated as the 79th best player on the NFL Top 100 list.
31.
Luke Kuechly brought his play to a whole new level in his second season, becoming the leader of a stingy Panthers defense that finished the season as runner-up in points and yards allowed.
32.
On Sunday, December 22,2013, Luke Kuechly recorded 24 tackles and one interception in a game against the New Orleans Saints, which the Carolina Panthers won and made the playoffs.
33.
Luke Kuechly earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his game against the Saints.
34.
Luke Kuechly was selected to the 2014 Pro Bowl where he had a team high 12 tackles for Team Sanders.
35.
Luke Kuechly was named to the 2013 All-Pro Team and recognized as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press, joining Lawrence Taylor as the only players in NFL history to win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and NFL Defensive Player of the Year in successive years.
36.
Further, Luke Kuechly joined Taylor, Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Dana Stubblefield, Charles Woodson, Brian Urlacher, and Terrell Suggs as the only players to win both awards.
37.
Luke Kuechly was rated as the 15th best player in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2014 list.
38.
Not knowing it was an official, Luke Kuechly swung his arm, resulting in his ejection.
39.
Luke Kuechly finished the regular season, leading the NFL in tackles with 153, along with three sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and a career-high 12 pass deflections.
40.
Luke Kuechly was voted to the Pro Bowl and was selected to the NFL All-Pro First-team for the second consecutive season.
41.
Luke Kuechly won the Butkus Award for the second time, joining Von Miller and Patrick Willis as the only players to win the award in both college and in the NFL.
42.
Luke Kuechly was ranked 14th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.
43.
On September 10,2015, Luke Kuechly signed a five-year, $62 million extension with the Panthers, becoming the NFL's highest-paid middle linebacker by annual average salary.
44.
Luke Kuechly missed the first home game of the 2015 season the following week when the Panthers defeated the Houston Texans.
45.
Luke Kuechly returned to the field during the Panthers Week 6 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle.
46.
Luke Kuechly continued to play in form during the Panthers victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, recording 11 defensive stops, one tackle-for-loss, one pass defensed, and one quarterback hit.
47.
Luke Kuechly tied a season high 14 tackles during a Monday Night Football victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
48.
Luke Kuechly had three passes defended and an interception in overtime to set up a Graham Gano game-winning field goal.
49.
Luke Kuechly was awarded the All-Iron Award and NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance during the game; it was his fourth such honor in his career, setting a new Panthers' franchise record.
50.
Further, Luke Kuechly was one of seven linebackers with 30 or more tackles in the run game, and just one missed tackle.
51.
In coverage, Luke Kuechly had three interceptions and four passes defended with no touchdowns allowed.
52.
Luke Kuechly allowed the second-lowest passer rating among all linebackers when targeted in coverage at 47.4 and is the one of just three linebacker with more than 25 tackles in coverage, and only one missed tackle.
53.
Luke Kuechly led all linebackers in allowing a passer rating of just 48.7 into his coverage.
54.
On February 7,2016, Luke Kuechly was part of the Panthers team that played in Super Bowl 50.
55.
Ten days after, it was announced that Luke Kuechly would undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum.
56.
Luke Kuechly was named to his third straight Pro Bowl, third straight first-team All-Pro, and was ranked as the seventh best player by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
57.
In 2016, Luke Kuechly started 10 games before suffering a concussion in Week 11, keeping him out the rest of the season.
58.
Luke Kuechly made his fourth straight Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro, and was ranked 20th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 as the highest ranked middle linebacker.
59.
On October 12,2017, Luke Kuechly was placed into the concussion protocol after seemingly suffering his third concussion in as many seasons during a Thursday Night Football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, although this was just a precaution.
60.
On October 27,2017, it was announced that Luke Kuechly had cleared the concussion protocol.
61.
On December 19,2017, Luke Kuechly was named to his fifth straight Pro Bowl.
62.
Luke Kuechly earned First-team All-Pro honors for the fourth time.
63.
Luke Kuechly was ranked 12th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
64.
Luke Kuechly was named to his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl, which he withdrew from.
65.
Luke Kuechly was ranked 24th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019.
66.
In Week 5 of the regular season Luke Kuechly had a game-high 12 tackles and the game-sealing pass deflection on the last play.
67.
Luke Kuechly reached a milestone with 1,000 career tackles, becoming the first player in NFL history to do so in his first eight seasons and the fastest to reach the mark in only 107 games.
68.
Luke Kuechly was named to the Pro Bowl for the seventh consecutive year.
69.
Luke Kuechly was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Team for the 2010s.
70.
Luke Kuechly resigned from his scout position in the 2021 offseason.
71.
Luke Kuechly was a top impact player each year in his professional career, and was frequently compared to Hall of Fame player Brian Urlacher.
72.
Luke Kuechly had an immediate impact his rookie season, as he led the NFL in tackles and won the Associated Press 2012 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, becoming the third youngest recipient in its history, and was voted the youngest recipient of the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in the award's history.
73.
Luke Kuechly was consistently ranked in the NFL Top 100 players throughout his career.
74.
Luke Kuechly is a devout Roman Catholic, and credits his parents and his Catholic faith for making a positive impact on his NFL career and his outlook on life.