One year after the Carolina Panthers selected Cam Newton in the first round of the 2011 draft, the team drafted Luke Kuechly in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Though, when Newton first met Kuechly, he didn’t realize what position the linebacker really played, per David Newton of ESPN.com.
“I was at IMG and he was running routes and I didn’t really know who he was at the time. He had pretty good hands then, so I was thinking that he was like a tight end.”
“So when we got him I was like, ‘Damn, he’s a linebacker.’
And according to ESPN’s report, Newton was the first person that Kuechly hung out with after he was drafted. The two went to dinner together, which is something that Kuechly had forgotten about.
The two have come a long way over their past four seasons playing together.
Kuechly has since participated in the 2013 and 2014 Pro Bowls. And this came after he was awarded the 2012 AP Defensive Rookie Player of the Year. As for Kuechly’s catching skills, he has totaled 13 interceptions over the course of his four regular seasons and three series of playoffs.
Not to be overshadowed by one of the top-performing linebackers in the NFL, Newton turned heads as well in 2015 recording the most total touchdowns (45) of any NFL quarterback.
With both Newton and Kuechly absolutely dominating the field all year long, we’ll see if the guys can help advance their team to the ultimate level in their upcoming NFC conference game.