While former Nebraska football star John Bullock wasn't selected, he was given an opportunity to learn from one of the best Husker defenders to play the game shortly after the end of this spring's NFL Draft. Now, Bullock will officially play alongside Lavonte David on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense during the 2025 season.
As NFL teams cut down to their final 53-man rosters earlier this week, the former Husker walk-on knew there was a chance he might make the Bucs. Late in the morning on Tuesday, he was officially given the news. He'll get a chance to live out his NFL dreams to start the season.
How Nebraska football’s former walk-on John Bullock earned a Buccaneers roster spot
Bullock, who signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent in May, after finishing his Nebraska playing days, enjoyed a strong training camp and preseason, making splash plays on both defense and special teams to earn the Bucs' fourth linebacker spot.
One of the guys rooting the hardest for him, Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule, talked shortly after the news broke about how he spoke with Bullock after he made the Bucs roster, and recalled when the former Blackshirt nearly retired from football when Rhule and his staff came to Lincoln.
"I told him, you've come so far, I wouldn't want you to have regrets," Rhule said. "We all knew what he could be."
Bullock moved from safety to linebacker, and the move culminated in a fantastic 2024 season. As a senior, he set career highs with 70 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 5 pass breakups, and one interception.
Rhule added that Bullock will be a story he uses when talking to current and future players about what can be accomplished when they give their all.
"The process is undefeated for people who won't be defeated — to me, that's John Bullock," Rhule said. "He kept pulling himself up. Nothing was given to him."
Bullock joins Thomas Fidone (who signed with the New York Giants) as former Nebraska football players who were UDFAs after the 2025 NFL Draft that made 53-man rosters to open the season.