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Luke Kuechly careful not to say ‘we’ as national broadcasting role expands
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- Luke Kuechly careful not to say ‘we’ as national broadcasting role expands
Credit: Netflix
Luke Kuechly says he's managed to keep his Panthers loyalty confined to the radio and off his national broadcasts, though a favorable schedule has made that much easier. Kuechly discussed walking that line in a recent interview with Front Office Sports' David Rumsey .
Kuechly has served as an analyst on the Panthers' radio broadcasts since 2022, and this season he added the high-profile role of Netflix's lead NFL game analyst while also calling regional games for CBS. While he's free to pull for Carolina whenever he's on the team's airwaves, he understands his national work demands a more measured approach.<
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"Fortunately, when I do the radio I can be as biased as I want because I work with the team," Kuechly said. "So, that part's easy. I haven't had any (Netflix or CBS) games where I've had a conflict of interest — no Panthers games versus anybody else. I have to be careful not to say 'we.'"
That particular pitfall has dogged Jason Kelce throughout his first season in the booth. During halftime of ESPN's Eagles-Bears Monday Night Football broadcast in Week 3, Kelce repeatedly referred to the Eagles as "we," prompting Pat McAfee to call him out and Kelce to apologize to Bears fans . Longtime ESPN producer Jeff Dufine later told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the network had been trying to get the "we" out of Kelce ahead of his NFL Network call of Eagles-Jaguars in London, which came just one week after his well-received debut as a game analyst on Colts-Commanders alongside Dave Pasch and Kurt Warner.
Kuechly, for his part, has yet to find himself in that predicament, partly because his national broadcasting career is still in its early stages. The former linebacker spent eight seasons anchoring the Panthers' defense, earning seven Pro Bowl selections and the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year award before retiring in January 2020 at 28. He floated broadcasting as a possible next step that spring but opted instead for a scouting job with the Panthers , and he didn't join the team's radio booth until 2022.
Once Kuechly turned his attention to national work, however, everyone wanted a piece of him . He called a pick-six before the snap on ESPN's MNF Playbook altcast last December, and CBS was reportedly pursuing him for The NFL Today by this spring. Netflix ultimately won out, hiring him as its No. 1 game analyst in July after an audition with Noah Eagle that "showed immediate chemistry," according to The Athletic's Andrew Marchand , and the pair's debut on 49ers-Rams in Melbourne drew glowing reviews .
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Since then, Kuechly has also inherited Bill Belichick's seat alongside Peyton Manning on ESPN's The Breakdown and made his CBS debut with Chris Lewis and Amanda Balionis, calling Raiders-Saints in Week 3. Despite that growing workload, none of his national assignments have featured the Panthers.
Kuechly told FOS he still considers the Netflix job a work "in progress," and his next game for the streamer won't arrive until Packers-Rams on Thanksgiving Eve, followed by a Christmas Day matchup and a Week 18 contest. Should any of those involve Carolina, Kuechly will find out firsthand how well he heeds his own advice.
The post Luke Kuechly careful not to say 'we' as national broadcasting role expands appeared first on Awful Announcing .
