We’ve had a ton of excitement this semester with some our beloved BC athletes
leaving the Heights to enter the world of professional athletics. Besides the recent
signings of some of our hockey players, Luke Kuechly has made quite the buzz as
he is gearing up for NFL Draft this weekend. Word on the streets (aka sports blogs
everywhere) say Kuechly is likely to go in the top 15. So I decided to talk to our
former linebacker and Her Campus Celebrity one more time before the big day.
Check it out.
Julie: Can you start off by telling us about your decision to leave BC and enter the
Draft this year? The last time we spoke, you said it was the million-dollar
question! Now that it’s answered, walk us through the decision process.
Luke: It was definitely a difficult decision. On one hand, I wanted to stay at school
for one more year while at the same time there was a great opportunity that was
right in front of me to do something I had wanted to do for a long time.
J: How has life been post BC?
L: It’s been alright, been very busy. I was down in Florida for nine weeks getting
ready for the combine and the Pro Day at BC. All of that is behind me now and I’m
back home waiting for the draft to come around at the end of April.
J: Tell us about training at the combine, what was your typical day like?
L: It’s a very busy day. We were up at 6:00 AM for breakfast. 7:00AM individual
sessions, 9:00 AM we were on the field for a running session. 10:30 AM was
fieldwork we had lunch at 12:30 PM and a lift at 2:00 or 3:00 PM. And after that all
you want to do is eat and relax
J: How was training at the combine different from training with the team at
BC?
L: All the training for the combine was basically practicing for the different drills
that we would see at the combine. Rather than football specific drills that we would
do at BC
J: Word on the street (aka ESPN) says you added 5 pounds, which is amazing!
What was your plan of attack in gaining the weight?
L: Really just eating as much as I could. It’s difficult to put weight on.
J: How does the weight-gain add to your desirability as a draftee? Did you
have any concerns about maintaining your agility with the new weight?
L: It definitely should help out a little bit. I’ve been running around and have been
feeling pretty comfortable at the weight I am now, it should be all good.
J: How do you think you’ve developed as a player since training at the
combine?
L: I think just realizing where I could improve. There are different aspects of the
game that are different in the NFL and I have been working on a few of them.
J: Do you miss walking around the Heights? What do you miss most?
L: Yes I do. I would have to say being around all the guys on the team and my
friends.
J: If you could pick any team to play for who would it be? Runner-up? (if you
can answer this, haha not sure how everything works with the Draft in terms
of what is safe to say!!)
L: Well being from Cincinnati I thought it would always be cool to play for the
Bengals.
J: What’s your life looking like now, post BC, post combine training?
L: It’s a waiting game now, just have to wait for the draft to swing around and see
what happens.
J: Tell us about Pro Day. How did you and the rest of the players perform?
Did it go as you expected?
L: I thought it went well I didn’t do much at pro-day just a couple position drills it
all went very smoothly though.
So there you have it, BC, a few last words before our star gets scooped up by the
NFL! HC BC wishes Luke the best of luck! We’ll be rooting for him no matter which
team he ends up on!