Luke Kuechly announced his retirement from the NFL Tuesday evening. The 28-year-old linebacker played all eight seasons (2012-19) of his career with the Carolina Panthers. Despite a relatively short tenure in the league, Kuechly deserves to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Kuechly made the Pro Bowl in every season but his first. The former No. 9 overall pick did earn the 2012 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (DROY) honors after leading the league with 164 tackles—a career-high. Kuechly also recovered three fumbles, intercepted two passes and collected 12 tackles for loss. Safe to say, Kuechly was actually snubbed from the All-Star squad.

Following up his DROY campaign, Kuechly won Defensive Player of the Year in his sophomore season in 2013. His best game of the season came in a victory over the New Orleans Saints. Kuechly registered an absurd 24 tackles—one shy of Brian Urclaher’s single-game NFL record. The Panthers won 12 games and captured a first-round bye that year.

For Kuechly’s efforts, he was named a Pro Bowler—his first of seven consecutive honors—and earned a first-team All-Pro selection. The only defender to have a longer streak of consecutive Pro Bowls was former Chicago Bears linebacker Mike Singletary (10), a Hall of Famer. Luke Kuechly was also selected five times to the first-team All-Pro and twice to the second-team All-Pro.

Kuechly’s versatility was perhaps his greatest strength. In addition to leading the NFL in tackles twice and averaging 145 tackles per contest over his storied career, Kuechly shined in pass coverage. He amassed 65 passes defensed, 43 pass breakups and 18 interceptions.

Not only did Luke Kuechly achieve tremendous personal triumph, he also accomplished some team success in Carolina. Kuechly helped the Panthers win four division titles with five playoff appearances overall. Most notably, the Panthers finished 15-1 in 2015 and reached the Super Bowl. They are one of 13 clubs in league history to win 17 or more games (including playoffs) in a season.

This was a special year for Kuechly individually. His most memorable performance of the season came against the Cowboys. He posted seven tackles, two passes defensed, and two interceptions—one of which he returned for a touchdown. The Panthers improved to 11-0 with the win.

Kuechly dominated in the Panthers’ postseason run to Super Bowl 50. He recorded a pick-six in the Divisional Round versus Seattle.

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The following week, Kuechly returned another interception for a TD in a blowout win over the Cardinals during the NFC Championship. Luke Kuechly became the first player to return interceptions for touchdowns in consecutive playoff games.

Although the Panthers came up short against the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl, Kuechly undoubtedly enjoyed one of the greatest individual postseasons by a defensive player in recent memory.

Kuechly is retiring because, as he put it, he can no longer “play fast and play physical and play strong.” One of the best players of his generation, Kuechly is hanging up the cleats as an elite talent. He ended his career on a high note personally, as his last NFL season included 144 tackles, 12 passes defensed, two interceptions and a safety.

Luke Kuechly did more than enough in his eight seasons of NFL action to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio. He turns 29 in April and will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025. If Kuechly gets inducted on the first ballot at age 34, he will join Gale Sayers as the youngest Hall of Famers ever.