National Football League
Kuhn works his way into fans' hearts
National Football League

Kuhn works his way into fans' hearts

Published Dec. 30, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

ALL ACCESS: A lot of networks do TV interviews, but have you ever wanted to know the juicy details that never make air? You can tell a lot about who people really are when the cameras aren’t rolling. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the interview that Pam Oliver had with Green Bay's John Kuhn.

I have a secret hideaway. It’s a place I sneak off to occasionally for a few minutes during football games played in arctic temperatures, which in my case can be 40 degrees as a starting point. It’s a place I go when I can’t feel my hands and feet and start to worry my organs will shut down. That’s where this John Kuhn feature idea hit me, standing near a space heater in a television truck parked in the loading dock just outside Lambeau Field.

“You made it for a long time today,” said Fox audio sub-mixer Larry Myhre, as I slithered into his audio cubby-hole workspace in the fourth quarter last Sunday during the Packers’ 45-17 blowout of the wilting New York Giants.

Right about then, he heard what he thought were boos echoed through his audio board thing. “Why are they still booing?,” he asked as his hands swiftly moved switches up and down bringing the football field sounds to life. “They’re not booing, they’re saying Kuuuuuuu-hn,” I mumbled (face is frozen) as I shook my head. Silly submixers.

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He heard the nonexistent “boos” numerous times, given that the Packers fullback whips fans into a Kuuuuuuu-hn hollering frenzy whenever the offense is in short yardage third-down situations or reaches the red zone. Kuhn’s become a beloved figure in Packer Nation and his running backs coach thinks he knows why.

“His journey to get to this level, people can really appreciate that,” said Edgar Bennett, who was a pretty good running back for the Packers in the '90s. “That blue-collar workman approach, making the most of that opportunity where’s nothing was given to him. He went out and earned it. He’s hitting on all cylinders.”

“It’s pretty awesome,” Kuhn told me about hearing his name screamed in unison by thousands. “The coolest part about it, I knew they liked me and I knew they respected me and I’m thankful for that. I knew they liked me because they tell me on game day.”

It’s Kuhn’s selflessness, workhorse style and versatility — in a town that adores its players — that’s created a growing fan love affair with the fifth-year running back the Packers got off waivers from Pittsburgh in 2007.

Injuries that thin the running back herd? No problem. Kuhn steps in and sees more action at halfback, the position he played in college. Need a special teamer who doesn’t complain about the task? Kuhn steps up again. As a fullback, Kuhn helped the now injured Ryan Grant get on the map with two consecutive seasons over 1,200 yards. Whatever you need, man.

“When I came out (of Division II Shippensburg), that got me into a camp and got me noticed,” Kuhn said when I asked him about versatility as a career builder. “Then I had to learn to be a blocker so that I could stay around. And this versatile part was what’s helped me to take it to another level.”

And kick his game into a higher gear.

“You talk about game balls for a game, he’ll (Kuhn) have a game ball for special teams and he’ll also have a game ball for offense,” said Packers coach Mike McCarthy after the win over the Giants. “I don’t think we’ve had that in my time here.”

Kuhn is gaining notoriety playing a position that is less heralded than it was back in the day.

Besides the popularity of spread offenses in college isn’t exactly putting a lot of fullback tadpoles in a stream flowing toward the NFL.

“I’m thankful for the fact that Green Bay carries three fullbacks. There are several teams that don’t carry a fullback anymore,” Kuhn astutely notes. “I think fullbacks nowadays are overlooked in their importance.”

“It’s dying a little bit,” said Bennett about the fullback position. But Bennett seems genuinely proud of his pupil’s ever expanding skills in a spot he didn’t even play in college. “John’s smart. His No. 1 thing is instinct and he gives great effort.”

And he expresses his gratitude for things, especially beating the odds to make it to the NFL and staying in the NFL.

“The more you enjoy what you do the harder you’re going to work, the more you’re going to take out of it,” Kuhn said. “I’m thankful that I’m here.”

Kuhn is used to going about his job without much media fanfare. But you have a 3-touchdown day and develop a cult following in a rabid football town, outside reporters tend to get curious.

For me, you never know where inspiration will come for a story. Sometimes a nice, warm audio room and a mix up can lead to something.

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