After playing college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, he was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL draft.

At the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Buckhalter played in 46 games and finished ranked eighth in school history for rushing yards (2,522).

In his rookie season of 2001, Buckhalter showed flashes of the potential the Eagles saw when he was drafted.

Unfortunately, that season he was also suspended for a game after he and two teammates were stopped by police and arrested for possession of marijuana.

While still recovering, Buckhalter and Bryan Scott made cameo appearances in the comedy movie, White Men Can't Rap.

[3][4] In 2009, his ninth season in the NFL, Buckhalter achieved career highs in rushing yardage (642), yards per carry (5.4), and receptions (31).

[5] Buckhalter is a cousin of Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Brandon McDonald.

His mother died when he was young and his brother Chris, who played on the Eagles practice squad in 1996, is serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter.

[6] In March 2009 prosecutors in a Philadelphia drug dealing case named Buckhalter as a celebrity client of the alleged dealer, Styles N.