North Carolina State University Athletics
Program Spotlight: Markus Kuhn
11/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 29, 2011
Raleigh, N.C. - Standing at 6-foot-4, and weighing 303 pounds, Markus Kuhn looks like your stereotypical college football player. However, upon closer inspection, he is anything but.
For starters, Kuhn bought into the feather craze that hit the world earlier this year, and though he was admittedly a little behind in adopting the trend, he proudly sports a teal and black plume in his hair.
The fifth-year senior, who dressed up as Arnold Schwarzenneger for Halloween, hails from Weinheim, Germany. He is the only international student-athlete on a roster dominated by players from the state of North Carolina.
Though he has already completed his undergraduate studies, receiving a degree in business in May, he is currently learning his third language, Spanish.
"I'm struggling a little bit with that third language," said Kuhn. "My English is getting pretty good, my German is good, but that third one is a little tough. I think my brain capacity is maxed out."
While many college football players started learning the game in Pop Warner leagues or by watching the NFL on Sunday, Kuhn's story is a little different. He didn't pick up the game until the age of 15.
"I went on vacation in Florida with my family, and that's the first time I got more interested in American football," said Kuhn.
Upon his return to Germany, Kuhn began to play for the Weinheim Longhorns, a club team in his hometown of Weinheim, Germany.
"I had done all kinds of sports before, but that was the first time where I was like, wow, this is a sport that I really enjoy," Kuhn said. "So I stuck with it."
Kuhn quickly found that not only did he really enjoy playing football; he was also really good at it. He took a much different route in coming to NC State than the majority of his teammates, though.
"My dad and I came here first in 2006," said Kuhn. "We thought I had a chance to play college football-I really wanted to play college football- so my dad and I flew over here and showed up at different universities with a DVD in hand. Most of them didn't even know I was coming or that I even existed, but after seeing that my highlight tapes were from Germany, most of the schools were pretty impressed."
"One of the schools that I went to was NC State, and fortunately after seeing my highlight tape they were pretty impressed so they offered me a scholarship," Kuhn said.
Though Kuhn is separated by thousands of miles from his family, with whom he is very close, he has never had to worry about feeling alone while at NC State.
"People have welcomed me and accepted me ever since I've been over here," said Kuhn. "The coaches and the players and the families of the players, they've pretty much adopted me as one of theirs."
"When my parents aren't here they take me under their wing; they've always been there. They're as happy when I make a play as when their own kid makes a play, so that's extremely nice of them."
One of the first things that Kuhn learned, upon coming to NC State, was the importance of the NC State-UNC rivalry.
"When I first came here, I never thought much about the rivalry between UNC and NC State. I was like, okay, whatever I'm not from here, I don't care too much," Kuhn said. "But after being here for five years, you care a lot. I got that instilled in me really fast, that it's really important, and it's really important for me now, too."
"Every time you win a game you have the bragging rights for a year, and it's nice for me to be able to say okay, I went to NC State and I never lost a single game to UNC. That's one of the big memories that I have, and I'm really proud of that."
While Kuhn believes that he has adjusted well to the American lifestyle, there are some strongly German qualities that have stuck with him.
"I enjoy sparkling water a lot better than tap or still water," said Kuhn. "I also know how to eat with a fork and a knife."
The traditional etiquette for using utensils is different in Europe and North America. By the European style, the fork remains in the left hand and the knife in the right, as opposed to the North American way, where the fork typically moves from the left hand to the right, and the knife is put down between bites.
"Most people think it's funny how Europeans eat; they use their knife to put things on the fork. I'm like `is this special?' ", Kuhn said with a laugh.
Kuhn said that because of his German mannerisms and his accent, he could often be mistaken for being too harsh.
"Germans are a little more straightforward, and it doesn't help that the German accent sometimes sounds a little more aggressive than it is actually meant to be," said Kuhn. "I don't really have a filter before the words come out of my mouth, and Americans try to be nice all the time."
Aside from football, Kuhn enjoys being in the outdoors with his teammates. When he's not on the field or in school, he can often be found fishing or hunting with Audie Cole and Jeff Reiskamp.
"Now that I've graduated I have a little more time, so aside from football and school, that's what we do," Kuhn said. "It's nice because you don't really have to move around a lot, so you're still kind of resting, but you're outside. You're not sitting on the couch in front of your TV. I don't even mind a lot of times not shooting something, or not killing anything, it's just being out in nature."
Kuhn particularly enjoys hunting, because it's something that he was never able to do in Germany due to the differing gun laws.
"In Germany, nobody has a gun or a firearm at all," said Kuhn. "I talk to my friends in Germany and they just think it's absolutely insane. Which, it is. But it's really cool too.
"It would be absolutely impossible in Germany to be like all right, let's buy a gun and just shoot things; umm no, we can't do that. But here, you can."
As far as his plans after the season, Kuhn is still uncertain. Due to regulations on Green Cards and visas, it wouldn't be easy for him to stay in America. While he has thought about the NFL, that's not his focus at the moment.
"Sure, it would be great to play college football and then get a shot in the NFL, but right now my focus is the last couple of games that we have left, and to do as well as I can, and then things will take care of themselves," Kuhn said.
Kuhn is extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to play football at NC State.
"Nothing can be compared to playing American football in America with the college atmosphere, in front of 60,000 people," Kuhn said. "NC State is absolutely my home away from home, and I absolutely love it here.
"I couldn't imagine any other place that would be better than where I am right now. Go Pack. Go America."
By Bona Jones
