Buccaneers' 'Hard Knocks' underdog story gets the call up to the 53-man roster

HBO’s “Hard Knocks” has a history of turning an underdog at the bottom of the most into the most compelling story of that season. This year, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Riley Bullough was that player.

And this week, his story had a nice epilogue. Bullough, who had been on the Bucs’ practice squad, was called up to the active roster.

That’s a great milestone for Bullough, an inside linebacker out of Michigan State. He became a big part of “Hard Knocks” when coaches singled him out, noting his leadership as an undrafted player. He also was notable for his long hair, and the “Joe Dirt” nickname that was attached to him.

On the show, the story didn’t have a perfect ending. He was cut at the end of preseason, but was signed to the practice squad, where he was until the Buccaneers called him up to the active roster. Aside from the honor of being on the 53-man roster, it’s a nice pay raise too. Practice squad players make $7,200 a week during the season. The minimum base salary for a player on the 53-man roster is $465,000 a year.

Bullough will still chase other milestones, like being among the 46 players active on game day and getting in his first game, and taking his first snaps on defense in the NFL. But this week brought some great news for Bullough, and the fans who enjoyed his story on “Hard Knocks.”

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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