Saturday, November 13, 2004
The Panthers defender will try to help his new team beat his old team.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Before a credit-card commercial glamorized Brentson Buckner's pregame ritual of kissing his cleats, he did the same thing a few years ago in the 49ers locker room.
Defensive tackle Bryant Young fondly remembers those days, smiling and laughing at the memories of playing alongside Buckner from 1998 to 2000.
In 2001, Buckner passed on a low-ball offer from the 49ers and signed with the Carolina Panthers. Look at him now. He's appearing in national television commercials for Visa and the NFL Network, parlaying the Panthers' appearance in last season's Super Bowl and his affable charm into a role as a fresh-faced, fun-loving spokesman.
The 49ers, meanwhile, have become a faceless team lacking stars. Perhaps the most recognizable mug shot is that of backup quarterback Ken Dorsey, who found the national spotlight as a Heisman Trophy finalist at Miami.
"I've just got a personality. I just be myself. That is what TV is missing," Buckner said Wednesday in a conference call with Bay Area media, a Q-and-A session more about his moonlighting than his thoughts on Sunday's game between the Panthers (1-7) and host 49ers (1-7).
"There is a lot of fake stuff out there (on television). ... They need to have people that know fake from real," Buckner, 32, added. "I'm a down south Georgia boy. I'm going to be real whether I'm on TV or on the field, and that is what people like. They just like me."
Said Young: "He's a funny guy. He's got a great sense of humor."
Commercial
That resonates when watching Buckner in the Visa commercial, which he likes because "that shows a little acting skills." In it, he sits at his locker, lip balm in hand, and kisses a new pair of cleats, puckering up for family members and close friends. The smooches have doubled from 13 to 26, but not one, as the commercial comically notes, is for his father-in-law.
"No, I still don't because he's a Browns fan," said Buckner.
The spot was filmed during training camp.
"I talked to a Visa guy, he got back to me and said they were looking for quirky things and he heard (Buckner) does quirky things," Buckner's agent, George Mavrikes, said. "He hasn't gotten a big head about it."
Buckner's ad for the NFL Network revolves around a fictional "Big Man Dance Challenge," and his moves on the dance stage are quite a sight for a 6-foot-2, 310-pound man.
"It was fun and I liked that because that shows my Motown skills," Buckner said. "So, if anybody out there is looking for a backup dancer on concert tours or on videos, I'd be OK doing that."
Panthers coach John Fox said of Buckner's media savvy: "Brentson is good at it. The more a guy can do to prepare for life after football is excellent."
Good defensive front
Before Buckner, an 11th-year veteran, pursues his goal to become a network analyst, he's still contributing to one of the league's best defensive fronts, one weakened by the loss of defensive tackle Kris Jenkins to a shoulder injury. The Panthers run defense ranks 29th in terms of yards allowed per game.
Buckner, who jumped offside twice in the first quarter of Sunday's 27-24 loss to the Raiders, said he harbors no ill feelings toward the 49ers for offering him only a $50,000 signing bonus and an incentive-laden deal in 2001. The 49ers instead signed Dana Stubblefield, and Buckner joined the Panthers, who went 1-15 his first season before making the Super Bowl two years later.
"The Super Bowl was a good thing," Buckner said. "But my time in San Fran was great. It was priceless."