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Legendary Bucs fan 'Big Nasty' humbled over his HOF induction

Keith Kunzig
Posted at 5:08 AM, Aug 13, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-13 10:57:46-04

"We’re not used to seeing you like this out of the makeup," says ABC Action News Anchor James Tully.

"Put the makeup back on is that what you’re telling me I should do James," says Keith Kunzig, better known as Big Nasty.

Actually taking off the makeup is the last thing Keith “Big Nasty” Kunzig should do because look at everything he’s achieved since putting it on.

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Out of every piece of outstanding Bucs memorabilia here, Kunzig puts one above all the others and with good reason.

"The one that’s actually behind you was given to me when I proposed to my wife at the game," says Kunzig.

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"I put on the jumbotron something like, 'Debbie, will you marry me? Love, Big Nasty.' People don’t know Warren Sapp’s nickname is Big Nasty so the players are going who the hell is Debbie!" says Kunzig.

That’s number one but here’s the runner-up.

Carl David Baker, the President and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame let Kunzig know last year he was going into the Hall of Fans.

"I mean it’s the real deal you get a jacket, you get a ring, you are permanently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame," explains Kunzig.

Most of us just go to a game, we don’t take it to his level. But as a kid, Kunzig was always fascinated by super fans. He watched them in the stands more than the game on the field.

Kunzig explains, "My brother, God rest his soul, he passed away couple years back, but he broke up with his girlfriend and he was down in the dumps and I said hey man let’s paint our faces because people were wearing bags over their heads back then."

And as Kunzig says, like the band Kiss, his look just kind of evolved into this iconic face that every Bucs fan knows, and one that’s now permanently enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

"It makes you think about the good things you’ve done over the years, just being a good person, to be acknowledged by Bucs, Hall of Fame, second to none man, second to none," says Kunzig.

And another bucket list item fulfilled. The Bucs helped Kunzig get tickets to the Super Bowl, and he took his daughter Destiny with him.

After all, he says she predicted before the season that this is exactly what would happen.