Scott Fowler: Panthers great Luke Kuechly's Hall of Fame induction speech made perfect sense

Scott Fowler, The Charlotte Observer on Aug 8, 2026

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

CANTON, Ohio — Luke Kuechly gave his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech on Saturday, and it was just as authentic and appropriate as you’re imagining.

The former Carolina Panthers linebacker spent his 15 minutes deflecting credit and thanking others, showering dozens of people from his life with praise. The speech was as well-prepared as Kuechly was every Sunday when he combined elite athleticism with unparalleled prep work to fashion a Hall of Fame career in just eight seasons in Charlotte, N.C.

OK, take a deep breath:

Kuechly thanked everyone from the cafeteria and security guys at Bank of America Stadium to his college buddies to his former teammates and coaches to his two brothers to his parents to his media-relations folks to his agents to his fellow Class of 2026 inductees to his girlfriend Hannah to Greg Olsen (and his wife) to Ryan Kalil (and his wife) to J.J. Jansen (and his wife) to David Tepper (and his wife) to Ron Rivera to Jerry Richardson to Thomas Davis to Jon Beason to the late Sam Mills to his high school alma mater in Cincinnati (the current players showed up) to the training staff to the equipment guys to ...

Well, at some point, I lost count.

“When people ask me what I miss most about football, it’s not one specific game or one specific play — it’s the locker room, which I feel like I have again with you guys up here,” said Kuechly, gesturing to the stage where more than 100 previously inducted Hall of Famers sat near him. “It’s the conversations that have nothing to do with sports.

“It’s celebrating together after wins and hurting together after losses. There’s no way to measure what the game of football has given to me, the joy it’s provided, and more than anything, the people that I’ve been so blessed to be around as a result of this game.”

Suffice it to say that Kuechly got it right — in everything but the clock. He was told to talk for 8-12 minutes and went on for 15. But the other inductees went long, too, and about 14 minutes and 50 seconds of that was Kuechly making sure he got through his list. He had a thank-you note to his own personal football world that he wanted to read, and by gosh, he was going to do it. Put it this way: He got his 15 minutes of fame Saturday and then tried to send it in every direction but his own.

The other 10 seconds came when Kuechly referenced the sense of humor from Adam Vinatieri, the Hall of Fame placekicker whose speech immediately preceded.

Vinatieri had the two lines that will be most-quoted by those who attended this ceremony in the Hall of Fame’s stadium, which hosted the Panthers only two nights before in an exhibition game.

Vinatieri noted that his former New England head coach Bill Belichick — whose exclusion from this Hall of Fame class in his initial year of eligibility was the source of controversy — wasn’t in the audience.

Cracked Vinatieri: “Unfortunately, Bill couldn’t make it here today — there’s a lot going on at UNC right now.”

And, as the crowd chuckled at that one, Vinatieri kept up the roast.

“I thought it was because training camp had already started,” Vinatieri said of Belichick. “But in truth, it’s because he’s judging his girlfriend’s cheerleading competition.”

Who knew Belichick would be catching strays at the Hall of Fame from the placekicker who beat the Carolina Panthers in the final seconds of Super Bowl 38?

That made the news, as did Vinatieri’s off-color crack about ESPN commentator Pat McAfee and how much he enjoyed holding the … ahem … balls for Vinatieri.

Another more sober headline came out of the induction ceremony, when former San Francisco running back Roger Craig gave his speech via a taped video rather than doing it live like the four other Class of 2026 inductees.

Craig revealed during this video that he is suffering from vascular dementia, which stemmed at least in part from the concussions he suffered playing football. While Craig’s condition had been whispered about in football circles, he chose this speech to make it public.

The final speaker was former New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, whom Kuechly has said all week was “the best player I ever played against.” There were more Saints fans at the induction than anyone else, and Brees drew more cheers and “Who Dat?” chants than the other four inductees.

All of that was fine with Kuechly, to be overshadowed a little bit. He has always been happy in the middle. He was the middle brother of the Kuechly family. He was the middle linebacker for the Panthers. He was the middle speaker Saturday — third out of five.

The man in the middle got all of his thank-yous out there Saturday, and he’ll be happy to have the spotlight shift away from him following this weekend. He’s got his gold jacket, but he’s more comfortable in workout shorts and a T-shirt.

Luke Kuechly gets to go back to coaching middle-school football, hanging out with his friends and calling Panther games on the radio after this.

That’s really about all he wants.