Mar'Keise "Bucky" Irving (born August 19, 2002) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

kickoff returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

and

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

Early life

Irving attended Hillcrest High School in

Country Club Hills, Illinois Country Club Hills is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb south of Chicago. The population was 16,775 at the 2020 census. History 10,000 years ago, during a glacial period, there was a complex of moraines in this are ...

. He did not play football his senior year in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He finished his high school career with 3,264 rushing yards. Irving committed to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

to play

College career

As a true freshman at Minnesota in 2021, Irving rushed 133 times for 699 yards and four touchdowns. After the season he transferred to the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. During his first year at Oregon, Irving totaled 1,357 yards from scrimmage and 13 total touchdowns (rushing and receiving). In his second season (2023) Irving had 1,180 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 186 carries. He also caught 56 passes for 413 yards and two more touchdowns. Irving earned Associated Press All-Pac-12 first team, Coaches All-Pac-12 first team, Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 first team, Phil Steele All-Pac-12 first team and CSC Academic All-America first team.

Professional career

Irving was selected in the fourth round with the 125th overall pick by the

during the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

. After beginning the season as the No. 2 back to

Rachaad White Rachaad White (born January 12, 1999) is an American professional football running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nebraska–Kearney Lopers before transferring to Mt. ...

, Irving's role increased as the season progressed. In Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints, he had 105 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in the 51–27 win. In week 12, against the New York Giants, he had 152 scrimmage yards in the 30–7 win. In Week 13, he ran for 153 yards and one touchdown, along with three catches for 33 yards in a 26–23 win over the Carolina Panthers, earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 15 against the Chargers, he had 15 carries for 117 rushing yards in the 40–17 win. In Week 17 against the Panthers, he had 190 scrimmage yards in the 48–14 win. He finished his rookie season with 207 carries for 1,122 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns to go with 47 receptions for 392 receiving yards. Irving was the first Buccaneers rookie to rush for at least 1,000 yards since Doug Martin in the 2012 season. In the Buccaneers NFC Wild Card game against the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

, Irving rushed for 77 yards and scored a touchdown, setting a franchise record for most rushing yards in a single playoff game by a rookie. On January 21, 2025, Irving was named to the 2024

PFWA NFL All-Rookie Team Following each National Football League (NFL) season, the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) compiles an honorary All-Rookie Team to recognize that season's most outstanding rookies at each position as adjudged by sportswriters of the PFWA. Te ...

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bioMinnesota Golden Gophers bioOregon Ducks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Bucky Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football running backs Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Oregon Ducks football players 2002 births Tampa Bay Buccaneers players