Signed Wednesday to a multi-year deal that makes him the Packers' fullback of the future, Nick Luchey isn't sure when his day will come to be the team's starter, but he does know what he brings to the table immediately.
In a word: versatility.
At 6-foot-1, 270 pounds, Luchey is imposing as a lead blocker, but he also has the athletic ability to carry the football and work out of the backfield as a receiver. Last season with Cincinnati he even lined up as a tight end on occasion.
So when asked in a teleconference Wednesday whether he considered himself a "pure fullback," Luchey had trouble coming up with an answer.
"That's kind of a trick question," he said. "Because sometimes when people say 'pure fullback,' they say: 'Well, he's a guy that can block.' And then if he's not a pure fullback: 'Well, he's an athletic guy who can't block.'"
Luchey says he fits into neither of those categories.
"I can block with the best of them," he said. "If you turn on my film, man, I'm knocking linebackers out. Period. I'm not blocking them, I'm knocking them on their (butts). I mean, that's just a fact.
"It's just crazy because if a guy like me can do more things, you kind of get labeled as ... an 'in-between' guy. And that's just not true."
Instead, Luchey sees himself as a dangerous weapon, the kind of guy that helps an offense exploit the weaknesses of opposing defenses.
According to Luchey, new Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said as much.
"He told me the guy who he had the most problems with (defensively), is the guy that can do all the things I can do," Luchey said.
Also courted by the Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles, Luchey said he chose Green Bay because he was impressed by GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman and running backs coach Sylvester Croom.
And while he predicts that things will improve for the Bengals under Lewis, he likes the Packers' chances of winning a Super Bowl.
"I've always been a guy who liked to win," Luchey said. "I've got nothing but love for the city of Cincinnati and the organization; I leave there with my head high and no regrets. But at the same time, as far as my future and my present career, I want to be somewhere I have a realistic shot of going to the Super Bowl ... That's tremendously high on my list, on my goals."
