Boston College Star Weighs in on Life

Boston College star weighs in on life

By Steve Conroy

He is the Boy Wonder no more.

Luke Kuechly, who stepped onto the Boston College campus two summers ago weighing just 217 pounds, now looks a lot more like a football player, even without his shoulders pads and helmet.

Kuechly’s up to a sculpted 237 pounds and the junior middle linebacker looks very much ready to make a run at the multiple awards for which he’s on the watch lists.

Kuechly’s body transformation has come along to the point that he doesn’t even notice it himself until he goes home to Cincinnati and compares himself to his non-football playing friends. But the growth is unmistakable.

The linebacker’s game is based on his instincts for the ball and his speed to get to it, but Kuechly doesn’t believe the added muscle will hamper him when the season opens against Northwestern on Sept. 3.

“I think if you put it on the right way, it shouldn’t be a problem, and that’s what I’ve tried to do,” said Kuechly yesterday at BC. “I wanted to get the weight on, but I want to make sure I can run. I think where I am right now, I don’t want to put any more on. (Defensive coordinator Bill McGovern) has always told me ‘If you can run, I don’t care how much weight you put on. You just have to be able to run.’

“If I get into camp and it’s a bit much, I’ll cut it down a couple of pounds.”

Kuechly led many of the Eagles yesterday in the third annual Lift for Life event for the BC chapter of Uplifting Athletes, for which he is co-president along with classmate Jake Sinkovec. The Eagles charity remains Ewing’s sarcoma, the form of cancer that former BC linebacker Mark Herzlich battled.

“I guess we didn’t pick the best day for it,” joked Kuechly of the stifling heat.

But Kuechly’s presence in the forefront of the team-wide charity underscores the fact he is now a team leader, along with star running back Montel Harris. Kuechly has watched how other leaders, like Mike McLaughlin, Wes Davis, Herzlich and Alex Albright, conducted themselves. He plans to take a little bit from them and mold it into his own style.

“You can’t be something that you’re not or it’s going to come across as forced or fake,” said Kuechly. “I’m not an in-your-face, rah-rah type of guy who’s yelling all the time. And I think that’s good, too, because when you say something, it’s going to mean something. If something needs to be said, I’m going to say it.

“But I’m not going to be looking for stuff and telling guys what to do. It’s going to be what I feel comfortable doing and when I feel like saying something.”

While he may look like a different kid, Kuechly is not. His aw-shucks reaction remains intact. And a mention of the preseason accolades brings the typical Kuechly blush.

“It’s cool to be on those watch lists, but it’s exactly that. It’s a watch list. You’ve got to play the games before you’re actually on the lists,” he said. “A watch list is just as good as being on a preseason top 25. It’s based on last season. We finished the season at 7-6 and that’s not how we want this season to go. It’s cool that you’re honored, but I don’t think it holds much weight once you get into your season.”

Whether this will be Kuechly’s last year at The Heights remains to be seen. He’s played at a high level pretty much since his first collegiate game. He was a consensus All-America selection as a sophomore, has the nation’s longest streak of 10 or more tackles in a game (22) and is averaging 13.2 tackles in his career.

Though he didn’t dismiss the NFL draft after this season, he made it clear that it’s not something that’s weighing on him.

“It’s too early to think about that. I’ve got more important things to worry about,” he said with a shake of his head. “It’s another thing like those preseason lists. If you don’t play well, it’s not even an option.”