Huber prepares for next level

Kevin Huber played the most meaningful game of his football career Jan. 1, in the FedEx Orange Bowl.

The next regular-season game he plays will be just as, if not more meaningful for the former University of Cincinnati all-American punter.

Sept. 13, Huber will take the field for the Cincinnati Bengals after being drafted in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

However, Huber said he doesn’t think he will be that nervous when he takes the field for his first professional punt, just excited.

“It’s going to be a big rush going out on the field,” Huber said. “Every young kid wants to be there and I’m going to finally get to be there so, it’s pretty exciting.”

The left-footed punter grew up in Cincinnati and attended Archbishop McNicholas High School. He wanted to play football at a big school, so he chose to walk on at UC where he didn’t assume the full-time punting role until his junior year.

After his junior season he realized that his dream of becoming a professional football player could become a reality.

“After [my junior year] I told myself I wasn’t going to let anything else happen but make it to the NFL,” Huber said. “I just worked that much harder for my senior year and after that I just trained to get [to the NFL].”

Huber said going into an NFL locker room as the new guy will be a challenge after being a leader for the Bearcats the last two seasons.

“It’s a little bit different,” Huber said. “You don’t want to go in there and be all, ‘Oh my god there’s Carson Palmer.’ It’s kind of a cool thing meeting all those guys and those guys that you always watched on TV and now you’re part of them.”

Huber does know the city well though after growing up here, which he said will help make the transition to the NFL easier. It also means he has to show the other new guys around.

“I have to be the tour guide for the city because they’re all from out of town,” Huber said. “They’re always calling me and asking what’s going on and where to go.”

Apart from the rookies, Huber has spent a lot of time with long-snapper Brad St. Louis and kicker Shayne Graham to get their timing down.

“Part of my position is to be a holder,” Huber said. “I tell them all the time, ‘If I screw up just yell at me because I’m here to help you.’ It’s working out pretty well, we just have to get a lot more reps in to get a little more comfortable, but it’s been pretty good so far.”

One thing he won’t have to worry about is competition. Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis has made it clear that Huber is the team’s punter for the 2009 season after releasing punters Kyle Larson and Ryan Plackemeier in April, just after the NFL draft.

“I was really looking forward to getting there and working with them because they had some experience,” Huber said. “At the same time it was a big relief in the fact that there’s not a competition.”