Kevin Huber/Photo: Bengals.com

Feb. 2. By Dave Vieser. For those watching the dramatic overtime ending of Sunday’s playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals, you may recall a Bengal player named “Huber” (#10) hoisting the kicker on his shoulders after the game-winning field goal.

That was Kevin Huber, the Bengals punter who also serves as the holder for all placekicks. You may have seen him on West Catawba.

Huber, 36, and his wife lived in the Townhomes at Harborside subdivision for over three years. Most neighbors probably had no idea there was a football pro among them and he really didn’t look all that big either, said next door neighbor Jim Butler.

“When we were first introduced, I found it hard to believe he was on a pro team,” Butler said. “But then, Kevin explained he was a punter and for that position, size is not all that critical.”

Easy-going guy

Butler said he was a great neighbor. The only problem was that Huber’s busy schedule, which included spring and summer training, as well as a full schedule of games in the fall, kept him away from Cornelius for many months out of the year. “We all wished he could have spent more time in town.”

A Cincinnati native, Huber had settled in the Cornelius area becoming familiar with this section of the Tar Heel State after a family member attended Davidson College. However, after signing a three-year contract with the Bengals in 2018, he built a new house in the Cincinnati area, and sold the four-bedroom lakeside townhome in Cornelius.

The Bengals most recently awarded Huber a new one-year contract for the current season, which has turned out to be as long as NFL seasons can last—21 games including the Super Bowl. A 13th-year player out of the University of Cincinnati, he was originally a fifth-round draft pick of the Bengals in 2009. He holds every record as the team’s career leader in the punting category.