Bucky Irving enters his second season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers determined to build on a rookie year that helped turn the team’s ground game into a top-five unit. The 22-year-old running back from the South Side of Chicago is carrying lessons from his football development, the influence of his family and the memory of personal losses into 2025. His standard is direct: “I’ve got to do it again.”
Irving showed that resolve during a 15-yard run against Atlanta at Raymond James Stadium. After making two defenders miss, he reached the line to gain and produced a Buccaneers first down. The play reflected the vision and elusiveness that defined his prolific 2024 rookie season.
A competitive foundation
Irving grew up in a household of 13 that included aunts, uncles and cousins. He began playing football with the Hazel Crest Mustangs at the pee wee level after repeatedly asking to join the older children in the family’s football activities. His early introduction to the game came through competition at home and a willingness to keep asking for an opportunity.
His uncle, Jeff Irving, remembered seeing that determination when Bucky was young. “I knew he was going to be special when he was able to play with us,” Jeff said. Bucky’s self-directed work ethic soon extended beyond games, including running up and down a large hill near the family home and arriving at practice early to watch older players.
“That hill was not easy to run up and down and for someone not to force you or tell you to go do it, that is something different,” Jeff said. That routine reflected the discipline Irving developed before reaching high school. It also helped establish the competitive approach he continues to bring to football.
At Hillcrest High School, Irving won the starting running back job and averaged 156.5 rushing yards per game during his first season in that role. He helped the team finish 12-1 and win the 2018 conference title, then completed his three-year Hillcrest career with 3,264 rushing yards. As a junior, he recorded 1,733 rushing yards, 22 rushing touchdowns, 21 receptions and 405 receiving yards.
Irving was named first-team all-state and South Suburban Conference Player of the Year after that junior season. He also lettered in basketball at Hillcrest as the starting point guard and led the team in scoring as a junior. In 2020, he made a game-winning layup at the buzzer in a 56-55 victory over Homewood-Flossmoor.
The path to Minnesota
Irving was named the No. 23 running back in the 2021 recruiting class and the No. 4 recruit in Illinois, according to the source. Minnesota offered him a scholarship on May 9, 2019, the same day his grandmother, Darlene Irving, died. Irving committed to Minnesota almost exactly one year after receiving the offer.
Darlene remained a central figure in Irving’s life and encouraged his football ambitions. “One day, I will not be here,” Darlene said. “If you keep working hard, you will make it to the NFL.” Irving later honored her with a tattoo on the back of his leg bearing her name and birth date.
As a Minnesota freshman, Irving rushed for 699 yards on 133 carries and four touchdowns. He led the team with 966 all-purpose yards, including 194 kickoff-return yards in 2021. His time at Minnesota continued the football development that eventually led him to Tampa Bay.
Turning grief into motivation
Irving’s younger brother, Jordan Raybon, was shot to death on March 17, 2022, in the 16800 block of Bulger in Hazel Crest. The loss followed Darlene’s death and became another defining moment in Irving’s life. He said the two deaths became motivation rather than a reason to stop pursuing his goals.
“She played a big part in my life because we all used to live in one house, and she always provided for us and made sure we had everything we needed,” Irving said. “I used to watch her go to work. My dad passed away when I was two and I never got a chance to meet him, but I got to see the role my grandma played.”
Irving said the deaths of his grandmother and brother shaped the way he approached his football career. “Going back to Minnesota when I did after my brother died and I lost my grandma, those things kind of happened back-to-back,” he said. “Being able to go through that and get through that and having the people around me that were there for me, I would say that is the greatest turning point of my life because some guys would shut down after that and some use it as motivation. I chose to use it as motivation.”
That perspective now follows Irving into the AdventHealth Training Center as he prepares for his second season with the Buccaneers. His rookie year gave Tampa Bay a major contribution on the ground, but Irving is not treating that production as a finish line. He is entering 2025 with the same demanding approach that carried him from the Hazel Crest Mustangs and Hillcrest High School to the NFL.
FSB Take
Irving’s second season gives Tampa Bay a young running back who already helped elevate its ground game during his rookie year. His history shows a player shaped by sustained work, production in multiple sports and a decision to use personal loss as motivation. The immediate implication is clear: Irving expects to reproduce his impact rather than simply revisit it.
Source: Original report