CANTON, Ohio — Luke Kuechly has a vision for how his Pro Football Hall of Fame speech will be delivered on Saturday afternoon.
It goes without saying the 2009 St. Xavier graduate is prepared. Several members of his family and friends from Greater Cincinnati will be in attendance as Kuechly is enshrined in Canton.
“You think in your mind that it’s going to be 72 degrees with a little bit of a breeze and it’s not going to be super hot up there,” Kuechly told WCPO 9 Sports Thursday. “And the sun is not going to be in your eyes, and you are going to breeze through your speech. And everything is going to be rainbows. But, I guess you don’t really know until you get up there.”
Kuechly, a former Carolina Panthers linebacker from 2012 to 2019, is just the third Greater Cincinnati high school football product to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He joins former Roger Staubach (1960 Purcell High School graduate) and Cris Carter (1984 Middletown graduate). Staubach, a 1985 inductee, grew up in Silverton. Carter, a 2013 inductee, was born in Troy.
“There is a lot to think about when we get up here, and I think that’s certainly one of them,” Kuechly said. “And I think a lot of it is just a testament to No. 1 my family, with the example set by my parents and how they treated us and what they sacrificed for my brothers and I to give ourselves the opportunity to go to a great school like St. Xavier High School. And being coached by Steve Specht teaches you a lot about the game of football, but it teaches you about how to approach the game and how to respect the game and how effort and determination and toughness and being a great teammate allows you to have success as well. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better situation growing up.”
Kuechly, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in February in his second year of eligibility, plans to visit the museum Thursday night prior to the preseason game between the Panthers and Arizona Cardinals at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
The St. Xavier football team plans to leave at 6:30 a.m. Saturday to watch the induction ceremony. St. X coach Steve Specht plans to be in Canton on Friday.
“I’m so excited to see the whole event,” Specht said. “I’m so excited for Luke and his family.”
Specht said the weekend will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Kuechly’s induction is a significant source of pride for the Long Blue Line. He’s looking forward to seeing how Kuechly’s moment will impact the current St. X student-athletes.
“It’s been awesome,” Specht said of Kuechly’s spotlight. “It’s just a feel-good.”
Kuechly, who helped the Panthers reach their second-ever Super Bowl appearance in 2016, is ready to deliver his induction speech on Saturday.
“I’ve been working on it for a while,” Kuechly said. “You try to figure out, ‘Hey, I’ve got from fourth to being 28 – I’ve got to touch as many people along that journey as I can, and I feel like I’m in a pretty good place. I’m confident with where I am, and I just got to get up there and let it rip now.”
Kuechly is grateful for the support from the St. X community.
“It will be good. I’m glad that he is coming up,” Kuechly said. “He is Coach Steve Specht. He’s a great person. He teaches all of these guys about the game of football. But how to be great people as well, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
Kuechly, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and five-time All-Pro player, is also part of today’s NFL landscape. He was named as the No. 1 game analyst for Netflix.
Kuechly participated in an audition with play-by-play broadcaster Noah Eagle at NBC. True to his character, Kuechly lauded Eagle’s talent in the broadcast booth, saying he’s fortunate to work with his colleague.
“I think it’s going to be a ton of fun,” Kuechly said. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Panthers doing the radio the last couple years. To have the opportunity to do TV will be really cool because it will give me a chance to talk more about the game that I love. Hopefully I can spread some of my joy of the game with other people.”
