During this year’s Pro Bowl festivities, Kayla Burton of the NFL Network caught up with Carolina Panthers legend Luke Kuechly. At the time, the NFC Legends Captain—who had recently stepped away from his duties as a pro scout—told Burton he was figuring out the next step for his life in football.
Well, we just found out what’s next.
As announced by the organization on Monday morning, Kuechly will be rejoining the Panthers as a member of the 2022 radio broadcast team. The 31-year-old will hit the booth for some color commentating action—joining new play-by-play voice Anish Shroff, Jordan Gross or Jake Delhomme and sideline reporter Kristen Balboni.
The seven-time All-Pro is set to call seven games for the upcoming campaign, something that’ll obviously come pretty easy to him.
“I just love the Panthers; I love being around it,” Kuechly said in the team’s release. “I love the people. I think I want to be attached to the team, and the game, and the organization somehow.
“I think it could be a lot of fun. I think that’s the biggest reason, to do something around the game on game day that’s fun. You still get the atmosphere, and all the good memories I have here in Carolina.”
Kuechly’s seven-game slate kicks off right away in Week 1 when the Panthers host the Cleveland Browns at Bank of America Stadium. He’ll also be on the headsets in Week 4 (vs. Arizona Cardinals), Week 5 (vs. San Francisco 49ers), Week 7 (vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Week 9 (at Cincinnati Bengals), Week 12 (vs. Denver Broncos) and Week 15 (vs. Pittsburgh Steelers).
Welcome home, Luke!