𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For someone whose career was cut short due to head injuries and health concerns, Luke Kuechly crammed a lot of records and accomplishments into his eight seasons.

And highlights.

As Kuechly waits on the call from the Pro Football Hall of Fame this week in his second year of eligibility, The Athletic sought to examine the greatest plays of the Carolina Panthers linebacker’s remarkable career. The exercise was akin to picking out the top singles from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

As Panthers long snapper J.J. Jansen said, “I think there’s a lot of great games to choose from.”

Kuechly, the ninth pick in 2012, began his career playing outside linebacker until Jon Beason was sidelined by injuries. Kuechly shifted to the middle for a Week 5 game against Seattle, collected 11 tackles and an interception and never looked back.

Kuechly posted the two highest single-season tackle totals in Panthers history his first two years, while joining Lawrence Taylor as the only players to win Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards in successive seasons.

Kuechly was the Panthers’ defensive leader and the Clark Kent to Cam Newton’s Superman, and the two helped fuel the most successful stretch in the Panthers’ 31-year history. Many of Kuechly’s best performances came when the lights were brightest.

“He played so well in so many of our biggest games that they’re very easy to track,” Jansen said. “Some guys are gonna have a great game in Week 7 of their fourth (year), and you’re like, OK, whatever. But because of how he played in the biggest games, that was kind of a big deal.”

Kuechly’s top five (listed chronologically):

Dec. 22, 2013: Panthers 17, Saints 13

Two weeks earlier, Drew Brees had thrown for 313 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-13 win over Carolina in New Orleans. Besides redemption, the Panthers also could secure their first playoff berth in five years by winning the rematch in Charlotte.

With the Saints running 81 offensive plays and holding a 17-minute advantage in time of possession, Kuechly had a lot of opportunities for tackles. He didn’t miss many, even when it started pouring in the second half.

“He was a dynamo that day. We knew it was likely to rain late. We didn’t know it was going to be as bad as it was,” Jansen recalled. “We’d already lost to the Saints a few weeks previous (on) “Sunday Night Football.” No one had played well that game, but our defense gave up a bunch of points. Knowing Luke, he takes that entirely personal. It felt like especially once the rain started, he was an unstoppable force.”

By the time Domenik Hixon caught Newton’s game-winning touchdown in the final minute, Kuechly had racked up 24 tackles to tie the New York Jets’ David Harris for the NFL single-game record. Kuechly also intercepted Brees when he stepped in front of a third-quarter pass to Jimmy Graham.

“In the storming rain, Luke Kuechly showed up big-time for us,” said Captain Munnerlyn, a cornerback on the 2013 team. “Twenty-some tackles and I knew the guy was the real deal. I’m sitting there like, this guy is gonna be very special.”

Nov. 2, 2015: Panthers 29, Colts 26 (OT)

The Panthers’ perfect season was interrupted by protesters at Bank of America Stadium during a “Monday Night Football” game against Andrew Luck and the Colts before Kuechly saved the day. No. 59 didn’t do anything to thwart the protesters who rappelled from the upper deck before unfurling a banner that directed fans to a website outlining opposition to BoA’s financing of a natural gas export facility.

But Kuechly had a big hand in keeping the Colts in check, finishing with 14 tackles while logging a career-high 86 defensive snaps in another game played in the rain. After the teams traded field goals on their first overtime possessions, Kuechly picked off Luck on a pass deflected by Roman Harper. That set up Graham Gano for a game-winning, 52-yard field goal that kept the Panthers unbeaten.

Nov. 26, 2015: Panthers 33, Cowboys 14

The Panthers rolled into Dallas with a 10-0 record for their first Thanksgiving Day game. The Cowboys weren’t very good in 2015. They’d won just three games before their matchup with Carolina, while QB Tony Romo had returned from a broken collarbone a week earlier.

Still, the nationally televised game offered the Panthers a chance to put their dominance on display, and Kuechly in particular did not disappoint. In a span of 24 seconds late in the second quarter, Kuechly intercepted Romo on back-to-back plays, becoming the first player to pull off that feat since 1997.

Kuechly returned the first pick 32 yards for a touchdown, which he finished with a stiff-arm to the side of Romo’s helmet. That final flourish has stuck with retired Panthers center Ryan Kalil 10 years later.

“I don’t remember a lot of plays. But that one will always stay with me because I remember he easily could have scored, and instead he changed his path just so he could try to get one hit on Romo,” Kalil said last week in a phone interview. “If you watch it, it’s not as cinematic as I remember it. But I remember there at the stadium watching him going to try to put one last hit on Romo.”

Actually, Panthers LB Thomas Davis would supply the final hit on Romo, refracturing his left collarbone on a sack on the final play of the third quarter.

A few days later, Kuechly would be named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time, more than anyone in team history. True to form, he deflected the praise. “It’s a cool deal, but really it’s a reflection of how our defense played.”

Luke Kuechly returns an interception of a Russell Wilson pass for a touchdown in the NFC divisional round playoff matchup on Jan. 17, 2016. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

Jan. 17, 2016: Panthers 31, Seahawks 24

Seattle had been the Panthers’ nemesis during Ron Rivera’s first four seasons. But the Panthers finally broke through with a 27-23 win at Seattle in 2015, a game in which Greg Olsen pulled in the game-winner and Kuechly led all tacklers with 14.

Now the Seahawks would come east for the divisional round playoff game, which looked like it would be a runaway for the Panthers early. Jonathan Stewart broke off a 59-yard run on the first offensive play of the game and then scored on a short TD run.

On the Seahawks’ second play, Russell Wilson — under pressure from Kawann Short — threw behind running back Marshawn Lynch and into the arms of Kuechly, who ran in the interception for a 14-yard score and a 14-0 lead less than three-and-a-half minutes into the game.

“KK Short got pressure up the middle, and they were sort of expecting Marshawn to be on the checkdown. And (Wilson) just kind of threw it up, and there was Luke,” Jansen said. “Not a shocker, Luke was ready for it and just kind of read the quarterback’s eyes, made a really good play and scores.”

The Panthers were up 31-0 at halftime before Seattle made things interesting in the second half. Kuechly finished with a team-high 11 tackles, and the Panthers survived and advanced, setting the stage for more Kuechly heroics the following week.

Jan. 24, 2016: Panthers 49, Cardinals 15

If Kuechly helped jump-start the playoff victory over Seattle, he provided the cherry on top of the NFC Championship Game rout of Arizona. Kuechly’s pick six of Carson Palmer was the Panthers’ fourth interception of the Cardinals’ QB and capped the scoring in a blowout win that secured the Panthers’ second Super Bowl appearance.

With the game out of reach, Kuechly undercut receiver John Brown, intercepted Palmer and darted in for a 22-yard touchdown. As he was running along the back of the end zone, a fan tumbled onto the field right in front of Kuechly, who stopped to check on him before resuming his celebration with Newton and other teammates.

“I just remember the interception at the end and the fan falling out of the stands,” Jansen said. “I actually asked him not that long ago if he had a picture of that. I’ve seen the video 10,000 times. Somewhere there’s a still photo that I think would just be awesome to see.”

Kuechly again finished as the Panthers’ leader with eight tackles. He would add a game-high 10 in the 24-10 loss to Denver in Super Bowl 50. It was a stellar postseason for Kuechly, who might have challenged J.J. Watt for Defensive Player of the Year had he not missed three games after sustaining the first concussion of his career in Week 1 at Jacksonville.

“He was unbelievable in those playoffs,” Jansen said. “He was absolutely fantastic.”

You could say the same about Kuechly’s career, for however long it lasted.