PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz suffered an injury after making a tackle on Tampa Bay Buccaneers return man Tez Johnson in the first quarter of Saturday night's preseason game. Johnson's return went for 32 yards.
Kuntz took a very long time to get over the to medical tent, holding his left arm across his chest.
Kuntz is the second Steelers player to leave Saturday night's game with an injury. Outside linebacker Nick Herbig has been ruled out with an hamstring injury. Kuntz's status has not been revealed yet.
The Steelers originally signed Christian Kuntz as a free agent in Aug. 15, 2019. He re-upped with the Steelers in March of 2024 with a three-year extension.
After playing linebacker at Duquesne, Christian Kuntz first signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2017, after which he first started long snapping.
Kuntz spent time with the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 and 2019, but did not play in a game. He was signed by the Steelers for the first time on Aug. 15, 2019 and he recorded five tackles and a sack in a preseason game against Carolina, but was among the team's roster cuts at the end of camp. Kuntz played with the Dallas Renegades of the XFL in the spring of 2020.
After the XFL folded, Kuntz re-joined the Steelers. He was waived on Aug. 2, but the Steelers re-signed him to their practice squad on Nov. 24. He spent the rest of the season on and off the practice squad, as the Steelers attempted to keep backups for all three of their specialists within the NFL's COVID-19 testing protocols.
Christian Kuntz, a graduate of Chartiers Valley High School in the Pittsburgh area, committed to play his collegiate football at Duquesne University. Kuntz was inducted into the Duquesne Athletics Hall of Fame on Jan. 29. During is decorated tenure with the Dukes, Kuntz was a three-time All-American, a part of three NEC Conference titles, recorded 30.5 sacks which was a program record and 71.5 tackles for loss which ranks sixth all-time in FCS history.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Long Snapper Leaves Game with Injury
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