Buckhalter Quietly Having the Best Season of His Career

Really Lost One · Oct 16, 2008

HE TERMED Sunday's performance against the 49ers the best of his pro career.

When he alluded to the 40-26 win in which he accumulated 178 total yards, Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter flashed his endearing smile. The same smile that often kept him out of trouble at Collins High School in Mississippi. The smile that he somehow continued to flash during the endless rehabilitation he endured during those horrific knee injuries that took away three of his first five seasons in the NFL.

That his best game came in his eighth season, less than a week after his 30th birthday, could be about as frustrating to Buckhalter as an Andy Reid news conference is to the media.

Buckhalter wouldn't allow himself to wallow in pity. He never learned that as a child while tending to his grandfather's pig farm, and he hasn't allowed it to be a part of his makeup as an adult, even during those long months, even years, of rehab.

"My mom passed away when I was 3 years old, " Buckhalter said during a recent meeting in South Jersey. "My sister was only 3 months old and there was my older brother, my father and my grandparents, who lived a couple houses away. I had so many chores that I had to do daily. I was a country boy and my grandpop had a pig farm. Me and my older brother and cousins had to clean and fix the pens, put up fences. We had to do something every day.

"But you know what, all the chores and the hard work that we had to do molded me into the person I am right now."

He is upbeat, nice, the kind of guy you'd want to hang out with. On this night, he's embarrassingly tired because Correll Buckhalter Jr., born Sept. 11, has cut into his rest time. And he's a player with whom the Eagles and Reid have become admiringly comfortable when called upon.

"He has a great personality, he brings a great spirit to the team," Reid said. "He's a good person and a lot of fun to be around. At the same time, he's tough and a good football player. When he gets the opportunity to start, he gets close to or over 100 yards. He's a good player."

Always has been.

"I didn't start playing organized football until seventh grade," he said. "I played basketball in fifth grade. We grew up in a community with a lot of guys, so as far back as I can remember, we were always playing something, basketball, football, kickball. Back then I was the dominant player no matter what we played. I was faster and stronger. I was just blessed with it."

That helped him to a stellar high school career at Collins (ending with a 47-carry, 387-yard, six-touchdown game in which he carried the ball on every offensive play in the first half). Then it was on to Nebraska before he was picked by the Eagles with the 121st overall selection in 2001.

From Mississippi to Nebraska to Philadelphia. Talk about a hop, skip and a (huge) jump.

"Man, the first thing I said when I got to Philly was, 'They put a country boy in a big city,' " he said with a hearty laugh. "I was overwhelmed. Being from Mississippi, going to school in Nebraska and then going to a city with so many million people was kind of overwhelming, but at the same time I knew I was here to play football."

His first season couldn't have been more promising. As the second fiddle to Duce Staley, Buckhalter ran for close to 600 yards and put an exclamation point on his rookie season with a strong playoff performance as the Eagles advanced to the first of four straight NFC Championship Games.

Then came the injuries.

He tore his left ACL on the first day of practice at minicamp and was lost for the 2002 season. He returned for 2003 and was part of the three-headed running back committee along with Staley and Brian Westbrook. Buckhalter ran for 542 yards and eight touchdowns that season, but it would be the last action he'd see for a while.

He tore the patellar tendon in his right knee in a preseason game against Baltimore before the 2004 season, required surgery and was shelved for the year. He battled back for the start of training camp the following year, but tore the tendon again at camp.

When he was lying on a gurney, waiting to be wheeled in for yet another surgery, he said something to his fiancee Nikki that he'd never said or thought before.

"I was getting ready to go into surgery and I said to her, 'Man, forget football.' I don't remember saying that. I guess I was drugged up at the time getting ready for the surgery. But that's the only time that I ever said that. I can't even remember saying it. I look at the injuries as a test of my faith and perseverance. Did I ever sit and wonder if I would ever play football again? No, I didn't. I knew that the faith that I had in God, he would deliver me out of the situation, even if man said I couldn't do so. I know he's on my side."

Buckhalter has been the consummate team player, which couldn't always have been easy. Out of Nebraska, he envisioned himself a star in the NFL someday, maybe leading the league in rushing yards, certainly piling up more touchdowns than surgical procedures the first few years.

But those injuries and a guy named Westbrook have cut into his time on the field. Yet he sees those as just two obstacles that have made him stronger.

"When Duce left, he was blessed to get a new contract with Pittsburgh [in 2004]," Buckhalter said. "It was unfortunate for me that I got hurt the year we went to the Super Bowl, but I was happy for Westbrook. You would hear so much negative things about him, that he's too little, that he'll get hurt. I was really happy for him to get out there and do as well as he did. I knew he had a chip on his shoulder and he proved a lot of people wrong, and he still does that now.

"But I wouldn't change anything. Going through the knee surgeries helped me in a lot of ways. It allowed me to know that football can be taken away from you in a split second. It's important that when you're out there you give it all you have because the next play, you could be out for the season or out of football forever. Those were the two things I got out of it. Don't take it for granted and give it everything you have that particular play and then do it again on the next play." *
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http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...getting_better_with_age__and_good_health.html

Buck has finally gotten the gift of health, and he's made the most of it. Although he isn't near Westbrook's level, Buck has filled in admirably ever since Westy went down with an injury. I'm proud of his play, and I am glad we have a backup running back able to fill in for our Pro-Bowl starter, and do a great job as well. Props

huevonkiller · Oct 16, 2008

I picked him up as soon as I heard Westbrook was out. I'm doing pretty good now too.

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Buckhalter Quietly Having the Best Season of His Career

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