Local Football Star Christian Kuntz to Start as Long Snapper for Steelers

Posted by on

(photo obtained from xflnewshub.com)


According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Pittsburgh Steelers have released veteran long snapper Kameron Caraday.  This would seemingly grant the job to Pittsburgher, Christian Kuntz.  Kuntz attended Chartiers Valley in high school, my alma mater, and played college football at Duquesne.

Kuntz was in the graduating class one year younger than my own at Chartiers Valley.  I am not going to lie and try to pretend I was best friends with Christian to gain some sort of fake clout.  However, I do remember him being a great guy and a hell of a football player.

There was no surprise when Kuntz was recruited by colleges to play football.  He was certainly one of, if not the, best football player of his class at CV.  He played linebacker for CV and continued his career at the position at Duquesne. 

Superstar at Duquesne

Kuntz started immediately at Duquesne as a true freshman.  He had a pick-six in his first game, returning a 49-yard interception for a touchdown against Old Dominion.  He finished the season with 38 tackles. 

Kuntz did not stop there, however.  He would go on to become one of the greatest linebackers in Northeast Conference history.  In Kuntz’s best year he led the NEC in sacks (11.5) and tackles for loss (24) to help the Dukes gain a share of the conference title as a redshirt senior in 2016.  He would finish his career as the all-time NEC leader in career sacks with 30.5.

Kuntz also collected a myriad of awards at Duquesne.  In both 2015 and 2016 he received the Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year award.  Kuntz was also named First Team All-NEC in each of his sophomore, junior, and senior years.  He became the first player in Duquesne football history to receive All-American honors three times.

Pro Career

After graduating from Duquesne, and going undrafted, Kuntz signed with the New England Patriots in 2017.  Unfortunately, he was waived the very next day.  However, it may have been a blessing in disguise because this put him on a path to long snapping. 

Kuntz would spend the next couple of seasons signing on with several NFL team including the Steelers but never debuting in the pros.  After being cut by the Steelers in 2019, he signed on as a member of the Dallas Renegades in the XFL.  After a short stint as a long snapper in the XFL, he again signed with the Steelers in March of 2020.  He spent the 2020-21 season on and off the Steeler practice squad. Finally, at the age of 27, he is set to make his NFL regular season debut on September 12th against the Buffalo Bills.

I wish nothing but the best for Christian.  Although we were not close in high school, we did play on a couple rec baseball teams together.  I have nothing but good things to say about him and I would imagine those closest to him would say the same.  Even better he is playing for the hometown team.  Good luck to Christian Kuntz this year and the rest of his Steeler career!