For the better part of last season, when then-rookie running back Bucky Irving suited up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his former college teammate at Oregon, wideout Tez Johnson, would text him and express how much he wanted to join him in Tampa.
When the time came around, the Bucs and general manager Jason Licht selected Johnson in the seventh round with the 235th overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft.
"Tez used to always say when he would be watching my games or anything like that, he would say, 'Bro, I want to come down with you to Tampa,'” Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving said on the “Up and Adams Show.”
"He used to say it every time we got on the phone, and I always told him, 'Just put your head down and work and God is going to take care of everything.' Then, it happened so I guess he got what he wanted," Irving continued.
Irving and Johnson were both key cogs of the Oregon Ducks offense. Irving rushed for over 1,000 yards in both seasons at Oregon and scored 11 touchdowns on the ground and added two more through the air as he caught 56 passes for 413 yards in 2023.
Johnson played three seasons at Troy before transferring to Oregon ahead of the 2023 season. he caught 86 passes fro 1,182 yards and scored 10 touchdowns his junior year. He added another 898 yards on 83 catches in 2024 with another 10 touchdowns.