For DL DeForest Buckner, returning to the San Francisco 49ers is more than a reunion with former teammates. It's a homecoming.
Six years after departing San Francisco, Buckner is back in red and gold, reuniting with familiar faces, coaches, and an organization that helped shape the early years of his NFL career. On Sunday, he'll have the opportunity to take the field at Levi's® Stadium once again as the 49ers host the Las Vegas Raiders.
"I feel at home," Buckner said. "Obviously, being drafted here and everything, I still got a bunch of the guys that I played with here, and some of the coaches and everything. So, feels great."
Selected by San Francisco with the seventh overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Buckner spent his first four seasons with the 49ers before joining the Indianapolis Colts in 2020. During his initial stint in The Bay, he established himself as a key piece of the defensive front and helped San Francisco reach Super Bowl LIV following the 2019 season.
Now, Buckner returns to a locker room with several familiar faces, many of whom have been hoping for this reunion for years.
Among them is DL Nick Bosa, who was a rookie during Buckner's final season in San Francisco. Over the years, the two maintained their friendship, with Bosa occasionally encouraging Buckner to return to The Bay.
"He would text me here and there like, 'Come back. I think it's time to come back home,'" Buckner said. "Him, George, Juice, Fred, all those guys... And obviously, I felt the love. I always have love for them, and I know they have love for me. So, I just knew that this was the only place to be."
For Bosa, Buckner's return brings back a player who helped set the standard during his first NFL season.
"He's the blueprint, and now we get to watch it in person," Bosa said.
Now, the two will take the field together again, this time as established veterans looking to lead San Francisco's defensive front.
TE George Kittle was another familiar face eager to welcome Buckner back, praising the presence he brings to the locker room.
"He's one of the best leaders I've been around," Kittle said. "He's friends with every position group. He's not shy, hangs out with anybody, and that brings the team closer."
Kittle also shared that he had been bringing up Buckner's name around the trade deadline for years.
"I think I've said Defo's name for the last four years going into the trade deadline," Kittle joked. "So he finally listened. So I have some pull here, I guess."
Beyond the excitement of reuniting with former teammates, Buckner brings experience and leadership to a defensive line featuring several young players still developing at the NFL level.
"It's a great group of guys, young guys who are eager to learn," Buckner said. "They have a lot of potential."
After watching film of San Francisco's defense over the Bye Week, Buckner was impressed by the younger players making plays and said he wants to be a resource for them.
"I told a couple of guys, I'm an open book," Buckner said. "Ask me all the questions that you need, and I can do my best to answer those questions. I just want them to continue to get better each and every week."
His teammates believe his presence will make an immediate difference.
Kittle pointed to Buckner's ability to command attention creating opportunities for the guys around him.
"Defo coming here just made Osa, Keion, and Bosa's lives so much easier because you can't leave him one-on-one, really," Kittle said. "He can beat anybody. He can take all the double teams."
For LB Fred Warner, Buckner's return is particularly meaningful. Warner was also a young player during Buckner's first stint in San Francisco and remembers the example he set early in his career.
"That was the guy when I came in as a rookie," Warner said. "He was everything that we were looking for as a 49er. Just building the culture and the standard here, he was that. I learned so much from him early on."
Warner also acknowledged the significance of having several members of the 2019 Super Bowl team back together, while emphasizing that this year's group has its own identity to establish.
"It's ultimately about building a team that's worthy of hoisting the trophy at the end of it all," Warner said.
For Buckner, being back with his former teammates also means another chance to finish what they started.
"We were talking and everything, and we were just saying 'yeah, there's unfinished business,'" Buckner said. "We all know the standard here. We're excited to be back, but we got to go out there and go to work."
Despite the years spent away from San Francisco, Buckner says the organization's expectations haven't changed.
"The culture, the standard, everything's the same," Buckner said. "Everybody knows the standard and the expectation to play, and the effort you want to put out there on Sundays. That's one of the biggest reasons why I came back."
Now, with the 49ers preparing to host the Raiders on Sunday, Buckner is looking forward to another familiar experience: running out of the tunnel at Levi's® Stadium.
Only this time, he'll do so alongside Bosa as two established veterans and leaders of the defensive front.
"The energy is gonna be crazy. I can already feel it," Buckner said. "I'm excited to get back out there in the red and gold, going out there and playing at Levi's Stadium, obviously with Nick too by my side. So, it's gonna be a lot of fun."
