Luke happy... but not satisfied

[Jeremy Igo]

After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers scored their first points of the game on Sunday, Luke Kuechly was visibly upset. I was about 20 yards away from him at the time, but I heard his yell over the cheering crowd. Luke instantly transformed from a mild mannered soft spoken player to someone entirely different.

 

 

He ran to the sideline to see what had happened and what could be done to fix it. Immediately Luke and Thomas Davis began pouring over the game book, looking for corrections to be made and opportunities to be made.

 

 

That is the thing with Kuechly. Beat him physically, as rare as that is, and he will brush himself off and try again. Beat him mentally within a play.... and he is going to come back at you having instantly learned that lesson. Kuechly is a true football book worm and takes getting caught off guard very personally.

 

I caught up with Luke in the locker room after the game to find out why he was so visibly upset.

 

"Our mindset is to get a shut out." said Kuechly. "We want to win games, we want to shut teams out."

 

Kuechly went on to make what may have won the game, the forced fumble in the fourth quarter. Fueled by his emotion, Luke imposed his will on the game. This is the mark of a true legend in the making. I don't feel that is an overstatement.

 

The funny thing is, Kuechly was hesitant to take much credit for one of the most important plays of the game. In fact, I found him in the corner of the locker room quietly buttoning his shirt away from the media hoopla. Luke is never interested in talking about himself.

 

"It was a three wide receiver set and he bursted weak, that was my coverage." Kuechly remarked on the play of the forced fumble.  "So I had to get on my horse and get over there."

 

Of course, the fumble was then recovered by Bene Benwikere, who Luke was anxious to praise.

 

 

"A lot of the credit goes to Bene, who was running to the ball. We talk about that all the time. You run to the football and good things happen. Bene was able to get there, scoop it up, and keep it inbounds. I think that was probably the best part of the play." Kuechly added.

 

 

 

[philp]

He's like a buffed out Greg Maddux

[lola]

The freaking legend continues. Lord have mercy on the souls of opposing offenses.

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[PantherPhann89]

Luke is a baller...

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[Montie_0123]

I'm so happy we have this guy as one of our leaders on Defense.

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[RJK]

Heroes get remembered legends never die

[Sean Payton's Vicodin]

Clearly, Barrett Ruud 2.0

[Machete]

Clearly, Barrett Ruud 2.0

wow. That caught me off guard this morning lol

[Chaos]

Letting people know that the DPOY award was well deserved.

#takesnoplaysoff

[AdamL]

Smart player vs strong player?....good thing we have both in Luke. Good right up.

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[DirtyMagic97]

It's amazing to see an entire defense take on the mood of one player. Luke would get pissed off and thirsty for blood and so would the rest of the guys. Directly caused two turnovers this game. I honestly don't even know why I'm still amazed. I should be used to it.

[*FreeFua*]

Luke saved what could've been one of the worst collapses in Panthers history.

Big time players make big time plays! And that's exactly what Luke did.

Tipped a ball leading to an INT, made a nice move on Martin to get a sack and force a punt instead of a FG, and made a game saving force fumble! Easily my player of the game!

[Proudiddy]

I remember telling people he would be our Ray Lewis...

He may be even better.

[Paa Langfart]

 

 

Kuechly went on to make what may have won the game, the forced fumble in the fourth quarter. Fueled by his emotion, Luke imposed his will on the game. This is the mark of a true legend in the making. I don't feel that is an overstatement.

 

 

Must be nice to chat with a future hall of famer.