The Steelers signed long snapper Christian Kuntz to a three-year contract.
Kuntz, a Pittsburgh native, has been the team's long snapper the last three seasons, playing in a total of 51 games.
"I feel like it hasn't even hit me and my family and friends," Kuntz said this week of being a member of the Steelers. "I'm playing for the Steelers. It still hasn't hit me. I don't think it ever will. It's a blessing. It's crazy."
He originally joined the team during the 2019 preseason and spent the 2020 season on the Steelers practice squad. Kuntz also spent time with the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Kuntz played at Chartiers Valley High School and collegiately at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where he was inducted into the Duquesne Athletics Hall of Fame. He finished with a school record 30.5 sacks while playing linebacker, winning two Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year awards and is the only player in school history to earn All-American honors three times for head coach Jerry Schmitt.
"My fifth year, my senior year, our (long-snapper) didn't come back and I had to do it," said Kuntz. "Coach Schmitt, he loved that I had to be the long-snapper and play linebacker. He loved the fact that I was running downfield and making half the plays on the punt team. Then, after the season, he told me I should be ready to long snap on my pro day. I was about as ready as I could have been. But he was right."
Related: Kuntz a story of perseverance
