Not that he needs any help.
And while Tom Kuechly doesn’t take credit for coining the term, giving kudos instead to the mother of former BC player Mike Morrissey, it’s an easy way for him to rib his son. After all, Luke’s tackle total for his first two years at BC (341 total) is nearly unbelievable, putting him on pace to best the school’s all-time record of 524, set by Stephen Boyd.
Unbelievable is, really, a good word for Kuechly. He’s got the glasses-and-muscles combination that gives rise to Clark Kent comparisons. He almost always gets home by his own curfew. He eschews soda and fried foods and swearing. As teammate Nick Clancy said, “He’s a class act. He’s the guy that you want to hire for a baby sitter for your kids. You can trust him with anything. He’s just a great guy, great person, good character, and I think that [translates] into how he plays.’’
Which is really, really well.
“You hate to say this, because he’s got two more years left, but if he continues along that same path, he certainly would have to be considered, if not the best, certainly in the top two or three [defensive players at BC], because there’s been some great players here, but they’ve not done it over four years,’’ said Barry Gallup, BC’s associate athletic director for football operations. “So the sky’s the limit for Luke.
“If he has another two years like he did his first two years, he’ll certainly probably be the best defensive player to ever play here.’’
Driven to succeed Kuechly was keeping score. He knew he had caught more fish than his two brothers, that he should win a competition that perhaps mattered only to him. So he retired to his grandparents’ house, where the family was visiting, and waited, watching his brothers continue to fish, making sure that they didn’t catch up to his total.
And when either of them caught another to draw closer, he’d get back out there, maintaining his lead.
