Luke Kuechly’s legacy is about more than just football

What will stick with me more than anything was how Kuechly managed to do it.

This one hurt. For any impartial observer, objective analyst or mere fan of football, the sudden retirement of Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly leaves the NFL a lesser place than it was before his exit.

Whether Kuechly or Bobby Wagner was actually the better middle linebacker will likely be debated for many years. There’s no questioning the impact that Kuechly made on the sport, though. For eight years, he played his position as well as anybody and in some ways he set a new standard for off-ball linebackers.

The numbers speak for themselves. Kuechly tallied over 1,000 combined tackles during his time in the league. 75 of them went for a loss. In addition to stout run defense, Kuechly was masterful in coverage. His ball skills could compare favorably even with some of the top defensive backs in the game. In the end, Kuechly posted 18 interceptions and 66 pass breakups. He had a nose for the ball, too. Kuechly forced seven fumbles and recovered nine of them. Throw in another 12.5 sacks and you’ll see why he will go down as one of the best defenders to ever do it.

Kuechly’s real legacy goes deeper than just the stats or the wins he helped the Panthers secure during his remarkable eight-year run. What we will remember most is how Kuechly managed to do it.

Athleticism helped make Kuechly into a great linebacker, but it was his dedication to film and preparation that made him a generational talent. Kuechly approached every opponent with a level of detail that matched some of the most committed competitors of our time. Like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, Kuechly elevated himself to an elite level of play by paying fanatical attention to the little things.

Watch Kuechly break down this clip of Giants running back Saquon Barkley as part of Amazon’s All or Nothing season featuring the Panthers.

Kuechly’s understanding of and passion for the game here is transparent. He genuinely loved this part of his job.

Sometimes, you could see that work ethic paying off in real time. Kuechly developed a habit of predicting what the offense was doing, calling out the play and shutting it down. Other all-time great linebackers like Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher were no slouches in this area and had their own unique qualities, but for my money Kuechly was better at this part of the game than anyone we’ve seen in the modern era.

Preparing for and playing the game the right way only begins to tell the story, though. By all accounts, Kuechly is a genuinely excellent person who has always treated everyone around him with respect and kindness. The outpouring of affection and respect that his teammates and rivals are showing on social media right now show what kind of man he is.

There’s a common thread in many of those tweets about No. 59: he was pure and true to himself. It’s an increasingly rare quality for a person to be genuine, but Kuechly’s authenticity has always shined through.

When we had a chance to interview Kuechly back in November of 2017, we asked about his legacy and his process. We also wanted to know more about the person, though. When we asked what he bought with his first NFL paycheck he answered that he always wanted a big comfortable couch, so that’s what he got. That’s the kind of thing that sticks with you.

Kuechly’s humility is extremely refreshing in an era when so many people (professional athletes and otherwise) get lost in their own hype. It may also be the primary quality that helped Kuechly excel at what he did.

Hopefully, his efforts will land him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame some day. If not, it will take exactly nothing away from what he’s accomplished. Congratulations to a one-of-a-kind individual on an exemplary career.

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