University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: Joe Murphy
A Football Eye On The Future
Dec 14, 2016 | Football
Kuhn looking for career path in radio, television.
*NOTE: This feature story on Tigers junior offensive lineman Gabe Kuhn first appeared in the Nov. 12 Memphis Football GameDay Program vs. USF.
It's the 2045 season opener for the University of Memphis football team. Fans across the city and Mid-South turn on their radios and hear this:
"Welcome, fans, to the 2045 Tigers season, and excitement abounds as the opener is just around an hour from kickoff. We're here high above Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, and it's a beautiful but warm and humid night for this match-up.
"Good evening, all. This is Alex Kuhn, and I'm here sharing tonight's call with my radio partner and brother, Gabe, a former standout offensive lineman for this Tigers program.
"And Gabe, the Tigers are ready, and I know you, as a former player for this program, can feel that same anxiousness to get the season started."
(Gabe) "Alex, glad to be with you and all of Tiger Nation joining us out there. And yes, I even have butterflies in my stomach waiting for kickoff. Let's get this season underway."
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Don't laugh and simply dismiss this scenario happening. It's not a far-fetched idea for the Kuhn brothers to be a future Memphis radio broadcasting team.
Gabe's brother, Alex, already has his broadcasting degree and works at KGYM radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the city's ESPN affiliate. Alex works primarily as a producer at KGYM, but also hosts two shows and calls play-by-play for local high school football. Gabe earned his journalism/news degree in December and took part in the University's commencement exercises Dec. 11 at FedExForum.
But, the tandem, at times, gets the opportunity to "work" together on calling games when they are at home in Wildwood, Mo.
"We don't see each other too often so, when we get together, we'll call a game or two," said Gabe, who is working student video internship hours for Memphis Athletics Communications department. "We'll mute the television and announce the game ourselves. He'll call the play-by-play action, and I'll do the color.
"I want to go into radio. My dream job is to be a color commentator because I can give insights into the game. I have a trained eye for the game."
Gabe picked up the "bug" for his future profession in media from both his father, Thom, and his brother. Thom was a journalism major at the University of Colorado and worked for some time at a St. Louis area newspaper. As stated earlier, Alex works in radio in Iowa.
"We're all sports fans, and we like to be 'in-the-know' before everyone else," Gabe said. "We like to be able to tell others about happenings in sports and have conversations with people. I knew journalism would be a good fit for me. I sort of followed in the family footsteps."
Radio is a form of entertaining others, and Gabe can thank his grandfather, Jeep, for giving me that interest. Jeep was an inventor and came up with ideas for children's toys such as the 1960s Easy Bake Oven and 1970s Stretch Armstrong. According to Gabe, visiting his grandfather's home as a kid was like experiencing Christmas more than once in a year.
"He graduated from M.I.T. with a perfect GPA," said Gabe. "He was the smartest guy I knew. I loved visiting him in California.
"It was awesome going out there because he had toys everywhere. In his garage, he had hundreds of these Frisbee-ball toys that we would play with. We would press the ball flat into a Frisbee and throw it on the roof of his house. The Frisbee then would condense into a ball and roll off the roof."
Gabe enjoyed throwing around his grandfather's invention because, on the football field even as a child, he didn't touch the ball much at all. He sort of knew from looking at his family – especially his father – that his football destiny was somewhere on the offensive or defensive line.
"Growing up, I was always big," Gabe said. "I knew playing quarterback, running back and wide receiver were out of the question. My dad is 6-foot-5 and near 300 pounds, so I'm built to be a lineman. But, I thought about being a tight end so I could catch the ball now and then."
But, that was where the pee-wee football league stepped in and told Gabe that he could not be a tight end. In fact, Gabe wasn't allowed to even touch the ball by league rules because of his large size.
"So, here's the story with Missouri pee-wee football," Gabe recalls. "If you're over 100 pounds in the fifth grade, you get these two big orange stripes on your helmet, and for every 10 pounds over 100, you get another stripe. I was 130 pounds in fifth grade, so I had three stripes. I was the heaviest guy on my team.
"If you had any stripes on your helmet, you couldn't touch the ball. So, I was basically forced into playing offensive line, and I played center my first year. It wasn't my choice, but it's worked out for me."
Indeed, the decision – though forced on him at that time – turned out to be the right one for Gabe.
After that first season of playing center in pee-wee football, he moved to right tackle later on in middle school. At Lafayette High School from 2009-12, Gabe played the all-important left tackle position all four seasons.
In his freshman season at Memphis, the 6-foot-4, 295-pounder practiced at left guard while he redshirted. As a redshirt freshman in 2014, Gabe started all 13 games at center during the Tigers' American Athletic Conference championship season. Then, in 2015 and now in 2016, Gabe has manned the right guard spot on the offensive line.
It's that versatility that offensive line coach Ryan Silverfield loves to see.
"Gabe is a veteran who's made a huge difference," said Silverfield. "He's a guy I feel comfortable putting at any of the five positions on the line. When you have a guy that's smart enough, tough enough and versatile to play all five line positions, that's huge. Hopefully, he's settled in at right guard, but his ability to play all five spots is big for us."
Gabe has played a big role in Memphis' success. In addition to the championship season in 2014, Gabe has helped the Tigers earn three-straight bowl berths and win 25 games the past three campaigns. The 25 wins are tied for the most victories for a three-year span in school history.
He blocked for the 2015 Memphis offense that set school records for scoring, passing yards and total yards. Memphis rolled up over 6,000 yards of total offense in 2015 and also piled up over 5,000 total yards in 2014.
"When I came here, I wanted to make a difference," said Gabe. "I wanted to win here, but I never thought how good my decision would be coming here because of the success we've had. Looking back, I made a good decision to attend Memphis."
The success Gabe's enjoyed is something that he envisioned – just like his future career in broadcasting.
It's the 2045 season opener for the University of Memphis football team. Fans across the city and Mid-South turn on their radios and hear this:
"Welcome, fans, to the 2045 Tigers season, and excitement abounds as the opener is just around an hour from kickoff. We're here high above Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, and it's a beautiful but warm and humid night for this match-up.
"Good evening, all. This is Alex Kuhn, and I'm here sharing tonight's call with my radio partner and brother, Gabe, a former standout offensive lineman for this Tigers program.
"And Gabe, the Tigers are ready, and I know you, as a former player for this program, can feel that same anxiousness to get the season started."
(Gabe) "Alex, glad to be with you and all of Tiger Nation joining us out there. And yes, I even have butterflies in my stomach waiting for kickoff. Let's get this season underway."
Â
Don't laugh and simply dismiss this scenario happening. It's not a far-fetched idea for the Kuhn brothers to be a future Memphis radio broadcasting team.
Gabe's brother, Alex, already has his broadcasting degree and works at KGYM radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the city's ESPN affiliate. Alex works primarily as a producer at KGYM, but also hosts two shows and calls play-by-play for local high school football. Gabe earned his journalism/news degree in December and took part in the University's commencement exercises Dec. 11 at FedExForum.
But, the tandem, at times, gets the opportunity to "work" together on calling games when they are at home in Wildwood, Mo.
"We don't see each other too often so, when we get together, we'll call a game or two," said Gabe, who is working student video internship hours for Memphis Athletics Communications department. "We'll mute the television and announce the game ourselves. He'll call the play-by-play action, and I'll do the color.
"I want to go into radio. My dream job is to be a color commentator because I can give insights into the game. I have a trained eye for the game."
Gabe picked up the "bug" for his future profession in media from both his father, Thom, and his brother. Thom was a journalism major at the University of Colorado and worked for some time at a St. Louis area newspaper. As stated earlier, Alex works in radio in Iowa.
"We're all sports fans, and we like to be 'in-the-know' before everyone else," Gabe said. "We like to be able to tell others about happenings in sports and have conversations with people. I knew journalism would be a good fit for me. I sort of followed in the family footsteps."
Radio is a form of entertaining others, and Gabe can thank his grandfather, Jeep, for giving me that interest. Jeep was an inventor and came up with ideas for children's toys such as the 1960s Easy Bake Oven and 1970s Stretch Armstrong. According to Gabe, visiting his grandfather's home as a kid was like experiencing Christmas more than once in a year.
"He graduated from M.I.T. with a perfect GPA," said Gabe. "He was the smartest guy I knew. I loved visiting him in California.
"It was awesome going out there because he had toys everywhere. In his garage, he had hundreds of these Frisbee-ball toys that we would play with. We would press the ball flat into a Frisbee and throw it on the roof of his house. The Frisbee then would condense into a ball and roll off the roof."
Gabe enjoyed throwing around his grandfather's invention because, on the football field even as a child, he didn't touch the ball much at all. He sort of knew from looking at his family – especially his father – that his football destiny was somewhere on the offensive or defensive line.
"Growing up, I was always big," Gabe said. "I knew playing quarterback, running back and wide receiver were out of the question. My dad is 6-foot-5 and near 300 pounds, so I'm built to be a lineman. But, I thought about being a tight end so I could catch the ball now and then."
But, that was where the pee-wee football league stepped in and told Gabe that he could not be a tight end. In fact, Gabe wasn't allowed to even touch the ball by league rules because of his large size.
"So, here's the story with Missouri pee-wee football," Gabe recalls. "If you're over 100 pounds in the fifth grade, you get these two big orange stripes on your helmet, and for every 10 pounds over 100, you get another stripe. I was 130 pounds in fifth grade, so I had three stripes. I was the heaviest guy on my team.
"If you had any stripes on your helmet, you couldn't touch the ball. So, I was basically forced into playing offensive line, and I played center my first year. It wasn't my choice, but it's worked out for me."
Indeed, the decision – though forced on him at that time – turned out to be the right one for Gabe.
After that first season of playing center in pee-wee football, he moved to right tackle later on in middle school. At Lafayette High School from 2009-12, Gabe played the all-important left tackle position all four seasons.
In his freshman season at Memphis, the 6-foot-4, 295-pounder practiced at left guard while he redshirted. As a redshirt freshman in 2014, Gabe started all 13 games at center during the Tigers' American Athletic Conference championship season. Then, in 2015 and now in 2016, Gabe has manned the right guard spot on the offensive line.
It's that versatility that offensive line coach Ryan Silverfield loves to see.
"Gabe is a veteran who's made a huge difference," said Silverfield. "He's a guy I feel comfortable putting at any of the five positions on the line. When you have a guy that's smart enough, tough enough and versatile to play all five line positions, that's huge. Hopefully, he's settled in at right guard, but his ability to play all five spots is big for us."
Gabe has played a big role in Memphis' success. In addition to the championship season in 2014, Gabe has helped the Tigers earn three-straight bowl berths and win 25 games the past three campaigns. The 25 wins are tied for the most victories for a three-year span in school history.
He blocked for the 2015 Memphis offense that set school records for scoring, passing yards and total yards. Memphis rolled up over 6,000 yards of total offense in 2015 and also piled up over 5,000 total yards in 2014.
"When I came here, I wanted to make a difference," said Gabe. "I wanted to win here, but I never thought how good my decision would be coming here because of the success we've had. Looking back, I made a good decision to attend Memphis."
The success Gabe's enjoyed is something that he envisioned – just like his future career in broadcasting.
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