FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – First-year New England Patriots defensive tackle Markus Kuhn walked out of the tunnel to greet the assembled media at Gillette Stadium with a smile. As he settled in place, one reporter said, “Wilkommen.”
The German-born Kuhn smiled.
“Not bad. Did you talk to Sea Bass before?” he said.
Sea Bass, of course, is German-born Patriots right tackle Sebastian Vollmer.
This is one of the NFL’s unique stories of the offseason, Kuhn and Vollmer becoming teammates. Last year, they were two of just five German-born players on an NFL roster, joining Bjoern Werner (Colts, now Jaguars), Kasim Edebali (Saints) and Mark Nzeocha (Cowboys).