Sean Lance Tucker (born October 25, 2001) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

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)#Offen ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the Syracuse Orange and was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Buccaneers after the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

Early years

Tucker was born on October 25, 2001, in

Owings Mills, Maryland Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. Per the 2020 census, the population was 35,674. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus o ...

. He attended Calvert Hall in Towson, Maryland, where he played football and also ran track. Considered one of the top running back prospects in Maryland by

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(#14),

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

(#27, rated three-star) and

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

(#27), Tucker was recruited by

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

assistant coach Reno Ferri.

College career

2020

As a freshman in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, Tucker was named Syracuse's starting running back four games into the season following a rash of injuries and opt-outs due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He ran for the third-most yards (626 yards) and the second-most yards per game (69.9) in a single season by an Syracuse Orange freshman ever. He was named the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) ''Running Back of the Week'' twice and led all freshmen running backs in the ACC in rushing yards per game.

2021

During the breakout 2021 season, Tucker totaled 1,496 rushing yards during the 2021 regular season, fourth best among all Division I FBS players. He became the first player in program history to rush for over 1,000 yards in eight games or less and set the program record for most 100-yard games in a season (8) and most consecutive 100 yards games at 7. He broke Joe Morris's 42-year record for Syracuse's most single-season rushing yards in game against NC State. In addition to breaking this record set in 1979, Tucker also overtook Syracuse greats such as

Floyd Little Floyd Douglas Little (July 4, 1942 – January 1, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Denver Broncos, initially in the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). He ...

, Walter Reyes, and

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...

. In the game against Albany, Tucker had a combined 253 yards (132 rushing, 121 receiving) and five touchdowns, becoming the first player in program history to have both 100+ rushing yards and 100+ receiving yards. Tucker surpassed 1,000-yard mark in win over

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. Against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, he amassed a career-high 207 rushing yards. Tucker was named to the

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midseason All-America first team.

college football analyst

Trevor Matich Trevor Anthony Matich (born October 9, 1961) is an American football analyst and former center in the National Football League from 1985 through 1996. Early years Matich grew up in Sacramento, California. He did not become starter on his high ...

named Tucker one of four candidates for the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

. He was the semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award as well as the Maxwell Award. Tucker was named the ACC Running Back of the Week multiple times. Tucker was named to first-team All-ACC, first-team All-American by

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

and second-team All-American by the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

, and

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Statistics

Professional career

After going undrafted in

, Tucker signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2023. On August 29, 2023, the Buccaneers announced that he had made the initial 53-man roster. In Week 1 of the 2023 season Tucker saw action against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

having 5 carries for 15 yards and 2 receptions for 9 yards.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio

Syracuse Orange bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Sean 2001 births Living people American football running backs People from Owings Mills, Maryland Players of American football from Baltimore County, Maryland Syracuse Orange football players All-American college football players Calvert Hall College High School alumni Tampa Bay Buccaneers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople