Celebrating Luke Kuechly, Smartest Linebacker to Play the Game | NFL Films Presents

[Music] [Music] i've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play in this game since i was in fourth grade and i've been with the panthers now for eight years and it's never the right time to step away but now is the right time for me and it's a tough decision i've thought about it a lot and i think now is is is the right chance for me to to move on i still remember my first press conference in this building in 2012 after being drafted by the panthers how you guys doing thank you congratulations thank you very much i spell that kingly uh l k-u-e-c-h-l-y k e c h l y all right mm-hmm hey let's be some dogs now let's be some dogs lou kiki's a player that i've played against since 16 years old from cincinnati ohio played against luke every year high school and then boston college another day and played against luke again seems like i just can't avoid him and he's definitely a linebacker that you want to avoid kinkley slams him down like wahoo mcdaniel oh i love the way he plays that's the way you come up a sticker man in the mouth kingsley you are beautiful off the field he's a choir boy you know all this curly hair and glasses and people were like yo this guy for real you get more out of him i don't have anything good for you very quiet very quiet goes onto the field flips the switch lunatic okay i'm all over him hey we gotta go now chuck ain't nobody know you you know it's like dang where you come from just like that fly when you're in the restaurant there's one fly in the restaurant but it's only flying on your food luke kickle is everywhere on the field that man's a tackling machine i agree with that he is a tackle machine i call him clark kent who happens to turn into superman on sunday as a rookie luke keithley led the nfl in tackles including 12 for a loss wow luke kingsley again and the 2012 ap defensive rookie of the year is luke kinkley [Applause] [Music] a year later in 2013 he made first team all-pro and was voted the nfl defensive player of the year the legend of luke league just keeps growing and growing and growing what can't this kid do where'd you learn your dance moves nowhere if you couldn't tell there they were not good i don't dance there's plays i've made solely based on what i've seen on tape kind of have the same routine every week for what i do all this stuff i write down i'll probably you'll see certain things and in if you know you make a couple plays because of that i think it all ends up being worth it luke he reminds me of peyton manning guy that is totally prepared that is going to know what's going to happen before it takes place because he has studied so much here we go he's one step ahead of everybody else hey under smash combo alert the hot they threw hot last time he's in total control of the defense left hey chris cross head right here cap everyone looks to him to get people lined up josh squeeze hey big bro colin hey mike get in the run i i get over here it's so cool to watch because he's reading keys where he's almost making breaks on the ball before the offensive guy does [Music] [Applause] he knew everything before it happened everything you break the huddle he comes out and he's like watch the screen mike scream oh he's coming back this way it's this way trap trap trap trap i'm like man how in the world did you know they were going to thomas draw pass thomas pass outside run it just really makes the game easy hey we know all your damn plays big dog at least 60 percent uh he's gonna call the player he's gonna tell you where you're gonna go uh even if you check he knows your checks it looked like a play where luke kinkley knows exactly what the offense is going to do he said jameis winston i'm gonna step right in this throwing lane what'd you see there i've been waiting on that route for like ever eric eric green picked that route same route last year at home first third down it's really dig remember you know as you study during the week you can pick stuff up you know if he lines up here he likes doing this if this guy's on this side of the field he likes doing that feline's up here he's got a certain route tree likes patriot patrick screen that's when the game really starts to slow down keithley backs up manning from a clean pocket into the air incomplete my goodness keithley reads the quarterback so fast and so well that you see plays like this on tape this week once it went four i was like i know what you're doing if you can find a couple plays during the game that you've either seen on tape or seen at practice and apply them in the game hey titty it's coming right here you know that's a part of the game that's fun here's to the left caitlyn hit up knocked it free thomas davis scooped it and rolled the touchdown [Applause] i'm not keeping how quick he is to read this play you feel this thought all day all day check it out guys my new pepsi nickname cans are here drink up uh luke can i get one too sorry man those are my last two guess you're out of luke nice looks like my work here is done i always knew i wanted to play football since i was a little kid i don't know what it was but it was always my favorite sport and a lot of guys i liked watching growing up brian urlacher was really good running the middle of the field always around the football derrick brooks was a great cover linebacker zach thomas always had a million tackles and then obviously ray lewis was ray lewis i'm a machine those guys set the tone for what a lot of guys in the league now want to be like by 2014 that's how most people were talking about luke lee whose name echoed on sundays in an extended vow the entire stadium just yelled out luke together [Music] like you know it's you hear that chant the whole game he's easily 10 15 tackles a game thou shalt not run up the middle or throw at the screen pass so says the gospel according to luke in 2014 luke led the nfl in tackles again damn newton calls that kid captain america his name is luke keatley and he may very well be the best linebacker in the nfl a year later he led the panthers to an nfc championship okay and then aware enough to check on a fan who flopped down on the field kingly who runs this day defense he's a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball he reads it he drives on it touchdown carolina yeah you're pretty cool you're pretty good at what you do to the super bowl welcome to levi's stadium here in santa clara as we are getting set for super bowl 50. you want to succeed so that the last memories can be positive once [Applause] and on a high note and sometimes stuff is just nothing you can do about it the denver broncos are world champions they have just won super bowl 50. [Music] the longer i've been in i think you got to have something else that you enjoy doing [Music] like football you do it all year round there we go so if you have something else you can concentrate on i think it helps you out i've always liked the fish [Music] i've been doing it since i was a little kid and the thing i think is fun is you're able to be outside and you can really just relax i think it's pretty i think it's peaceful this season's such a mental drag that it's sometimes nice to just get away and worry about something else [Music] i wish i was as good at fishing as i was at watching tape kikly's panthers never got back to the super bowl and even though he missed a few games due to injury in 2016 kiekley was as dominant as ever toward the end of his career [Applause] over his eight years in the nfl no linebacker recorded more tackles pass breakups or interceptions four-man pressure and wilson in trouble flicks it out of the backfield picked off pigley ten five touchdowns hey i can't wait to see your name up there i can't wait to see your name up there [Music] in january of 2020 luke keikley announced his retirement from the panthers there's only one way to play this game since i was a little kid is is to play fast and play physical and play strong and at this point i don't know if i'm able to do that anymore and that's the part that is the most difficult is [Music] i still want to play but i don't think it's the right decision so it makes me sad because i love playing this game it's my favorite thing in the world to do and the memories i have from this place and this organization and playing on the field with these guys they'll never go away it was crazy man being able to compete against him twice a year he's what i what i've known is the best in the game for the past eight years for him to retire like that was unexpected i wish i would have been able to to cherish him a little bit more there was no media or fanfare kieckley left football in the same unassuming manner in which he arrived but he's not going far he's been hired as a panthers scout where he can go on applying the film study skills that made him luke keegley and perhaps uncover the next one

Channel: NFL Films

Views: 1,669,790

Keywords: NFL, Football, NFL Films, American Football

Id: cbsRZDxlYEQ

Length: 12min 25sec (745 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 24 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/StreetReporter]

Great, now I’m going to cry myself asleep again

[u/PotatoeTaco43]

One of the best LBs ever. 1st Ballot HoF for sure

[u/BowtieCustomerRep]

Luke was a legit beast. Pretty crazy that he managed to carve out a HoF career in only 8 seasons. That is literally the hardest way to do it. Mad respect

[u/fresh5447]

Imagine if he didn’t have 70 concussions

[u/[deleted]]

Miss this guy

[u/ikyle117]

As a Saints fan, I'm not sure any defender has ever frustrated me more. There have been a couple games where Kuechly essentially defeated us all on his own. Very seldom have I seen a defensive player match wits with Drew Brees, its a damn shame those concussions took his career away so soon.

[u/charodkp01]

One of my favorite LB’s of all time. Dude was a defensive QB.

[u/Teeshirtandshortsguy]

Seeing clips from that 2015 team was sad. So many legendary Panthers, and now they're all in the twilight of their careers. Terrible we couldn't win them a ring.

[u/Sandwichwithham3]

Best LB of the decade.