CHARLOTTE—The Pro Bowl is a chance for the best of the best in the league to gather each year. Veterans and rookies alike, guys who have been lifelong friends and those meeting for the first time, all mill about, swapping trade secrets, tips and tricks, and memories exclusive to those in this hallowed fraternity.

But even the best have idols.

Fred Warner didn't need to hear the full name, Luke Kuechly, before letting out an admiring, "Oh yeah, oh my goodness!"

Warner, the 49ers linebacker, has been in the league since 2018. He's a four-time first-team All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler. He's the kind of player those going through the draft process this spring point to as an aspirational goal and someone whose game they want to emulate. For Warner, that was two guys in the 2012 draft class.

"(Luke) and Bobby Wagner are like my two idols," gushed Warner. "Watched both of them a ton in college and as a young rookie and second-year player, watching them from afar, trying to learn and take little tidbits out of their games, and Luke is one of the best to ever do it."

Due to the nature of the NFL calendar, the Pro Bowl takes place each year before NFL Honors, when the new Hall of Fame inductees are announced. During the annual gathering in Orlando this year, no one yet knew who would make the smaller class. Eventually, neither Luke Kuechly nor former Panthers receiver Steve Smith were a part of the final cut in the four-man 2025 class.

When Kuechly's name would arise, though, amongst those who played with him, against him, or just admired his game, the sentiment was clear; it's not a matter of if but when.

"Luke and Bobby Wagner, some of the toughest guys, just how smart they were, and Luke Kuechly is definitely a special one for sure," echoed Russell Wilson, current Steelers and former Seahawks quarterback who played with Wagner and against Kuechly.

Wagner entered the league with Kuechly the same year. He's still playing, now with the Washington Commanders, putting together a resume that looks remarkably similar to the former Carolina Panthers linebacker on the front end, and at a pace, one can't help but imagine Kuechly would've matched had he played past the 2019 season.

Both were the league's combined tackle leaders at least twice, made the Pro Bowl all but one year of their career, and have multiple first-team All-Pros (Kuechly five of his eight seasons, Wagner six of his 13 and counting). Both were part of the PFWA All-Rookie Team 2012 and the NFL All-Decade team for the 2010s. Wagner won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks for the 2013 season. That same year, Kuechly was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year, one season after being named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

And to this day, Wagner is still taking tips from Luke Kuechly.

"I mean, I watch Luke all the time. I still watch his film," Wagner admitted during the recent Pro Bowl, his 10th overall. "I still am a huge fan of him and his game, and, you know, I'm always grateful. It's dope to be able to say that that was my draft maker; that's who came up with me."

For those who arguably know the game better than anyone, the production on tape is unmatched.

"He's one of the best linebackers of his generation and was a pain to play against," laughed Lions (and former Rams) quarterback Jared Goff.

Added Wagner, "He was so smart, so fast, recognized the play so quick."

In a game that is as mental as it is physical, it was a weapon in Kuechly's arsenal that peers still admire.

"His mind, the way his mind works," explained an effusive Warner. "I mean, obviously super gifted athletically and ultra-talented. But the way that his mind processed the game, the hours he put in in the film room was obvious because you hear guys talking about it all the time, the way that he was calling plays out and beating guys point A to point B, consistently play in and play out, phenomenal, phenomenal player, and a guy I try to emulate in my game."

If the Hall of Fame selection process this year was operating under parameters of the past, maybe Kuechly is a first-ballot guy, but that is neither here nor there, and he will be an automatic finalist next year.

Peyton Manning was a first-ballot inductee in the 2021 class, a passer with a career that puts him in the argument for one of the best of all time and one of the game's most trusted sources on talent. He played 18 seasons, 293 total games. Only two of those were against Kuechly—once in 2012, Kuechly's rookie season, and again in Super Bowl 50—but it was enough to make an impression.

"Awesome player, awesome player," praised Manning, on hand that week as the coach of the AFC Pro Bowl squad. "A coach on the field. I mean, when you audibled against Luke, he audibled, and sometimes he fake audibled, so he was really, really playing quarterback out there at middle linebacker.

"It was really—teams were doing that, but he did it at a higher level and had a real feel for what you were doing. He wasn't going to let you check to the perfect play against their defense. He was going to get out of that play and get to something that was better.

"So a real chess match and playing against him, aside from the fact that he had great speed, great tackler, good catch, good hands like he never dropped interceptions—a heck of a player."

It's impossible to truly quantify someone's legacy. It can be many things to many people. For some, it's certain statistical markers; for others, it's moments from the biggest games. And yes, the Hall of Fame is an honor that can never be erased as a career achievement. But perhaps one of the greatest tells of someone's legacy is that when the game's best gather, there is a name still said with reverence.

"It's just like anybody," Bobby Wagner concluded, trying to find the right words to explain Luke Kuechly, "anybody would admire his name."