Super Bowl 50 Media Session – Luke Kuechly – Carolina Panthers
As the Carolina Panthers continue to gear up for Super Bowl 50 they took a little time off for Wednesday’s Media Session, and PPI was there to bring you the latest and the greatest in NFL coverage.
First off, the Carolina LB who has already had two pick 6′s in just two playoff games this year. You may know him as Luke Kuechly. The Panthers have very done well in recent drafts, especially in 2012 when they drafted Kuechly in the first round with the ninth overall selection.
Luke Kuechly was asked if he was nervous when he first joined the Panthers, “Absolutely. I came in and heard what the NFL was like, so I walked into the linebacker room and there was Thomas Davis, Jon Beason, James Anderson, Jordan Senn – I mean, the list goes on and on. Those top three guys have been in Carolina their whole careers and have been successful. Beason had been to Pro Bowls, James had a ton of great years, and obviously Thomas. So when I got, there I didn’t know what my role was going to be, but I knew my role was going to be one thing and that was being the Rookie. If I worked hard, kept my mouth shut, and did what I was told, I knew it was going to work out for me.”
Kuechly, on being so successful early on in his career, “I think a lot of it has to do with those three guys I mentioned in the previous question, especially Jon Beason and Thomas Davis. In our linebacker room, we have three or four rows of desks and Jon sat right next to me. Every day I was taking notes and Beason was giving me information. Even when he went down that first year, he still continued to help me. Jon Beason was my second coach and he sat next to me every day, he was out there at practice and the games. He really taught me how to play middle linebacker, because he had played it at such a high level and he knew all the ins and outs of the defense. He knew our division opponents and knew how to be productive. Him and Thomas were great for me and I really appreciate all that they did for me.”
One thing that remains common place as for Panthers players giving interviews is the Cam Newton questions. While Luke Kuechly may be a star Pro Bowl caliber LB, he was no exception when it came to Cam-Mania. This week Carolina’s head coach Ron Rivera has referred to Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly as being the kinds of pieces to build a team around.
Kuechly was fine with acknowledging the Newton part, but also gave credit to others on the Panther defense, “Anytime you can get a franchise quarterback like Cam, it solidifies things for all three phases of the team. When you can get a guy who can generate points and yards, but also generates energy and enthusiasm it’s awesome. I think on defense you can add pieces, but the foundation of our defense was already kind of set up with guys like Thomas Davis and Charles Johnson, guys who have been around for some time. Those guys set the foundation and I think we just added some good pieces around them.”
He also stated that he does not see himself as the defensive version of Cam Newton, and that he just wanted to come in and do his best.
When asked about about all the turnovers the Panthers have produced this year, Kuechly explained that is has kind of turned into a competition in Carolina, “We practice it every week and it is a big part of what we do. Coach (Sean) McDermott always talks about it, we have practice sessions on Thursdays where we are trying to get the ball out in our turnover circuit, and when a ball goes to the ground in practice, guys are running around to pick it up. It has almost turned into a competition a little bit to see who can force the most turnovers and Coach McDermott does a great job at allowing us to play fast and aggressive and that has something to do with it. We have guys that like getting around the ball and like getting their hands on the football to force turnovers. We know how much that affects our offense and put them in good positions, so it’s a big emphasis on what we do, we stress it a lot, we track it a lot, and it makes football more fun when you can get the ball out.”
More on the take aways from Kuechly, “I don’t know if there is necessarily a reward, but there is always a constant competition. Everybody knows who has the most picks and forced fumbles. Kurt (Coleman) has the most picks and everybody knows that, Josh (Norman) and Thomas (Davis) were up there. There is a big emphasis on that and guys have a lot of fun with it.”
Lastly, Kuechly was asked about his thoughts heading into Super Bowl 50, “It’s unique and it’s special, this is one of those things that coach always talks about. He says you got to enjoy the experience and let the experience kind of happen. This is all part of it and it’s something that you don’t get every week. You know, Monday was fun and it’s something that special. You have to take advantage of it, because it doesn’t happen all the time and you have to make it fun.”
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