Duquesne Athletics
Duquesne Athletics 2024 Hall Of Fame Class Honored
Christian Kuntz’s speech was unlike his four predecessors, he had a small note, but never referred to it and spoke off the cuff, immediately making everyone laugh by calling football coach Jerry Schmitt’s notebook 100 years old.
Kuntz is currently the Pittsburgh Steelers long snapper and joins Leigh Bodden as the second Duke to earn a spot on an NFL roster in 68 years.
He was thrice named an All-American and lead the Dukes to NEC titles in 2013, 2015 and 2016. In 2015, his play helped the Dukes make their first FCS Playoff appearance.
Kuntz recorded a school record 30.5 sacks and also amassed 71.5 career tackles for loss which ranks sixth on the NCAA FCS all-time list.
“It’s special to be a part of this,” Kuntz said. “There’s a lot of historic and rich names out there that are part of this hall of fame at Duquesne University. I am very grateful and humbled to be a part of it.”
When he introduced Kuntz, Schmitt told a story about another highlight reel play where the former came off the field after jumping the play and offering to go on offense and make a difference there too.
Kuntz’s speech did include some light-hearted jabs at his quarterback Dillon Buechel dialing up the offense in a scoreless game, but it was clearly two friends having fun.
The 2015 football team finished with an 8-4 overall record and 5-1 in the NEC earning that outright NEC title and first FCS Playoff appearance, during which it beat William & Mary.
Duquesne had a school-record 13 players earn All-NEC honors and 20 made the NEC Academic Honor Roll.
The players present are too numerous to name but the full party including coaches and players exceeded 30.
