TAMPA — For the second straight year, WR Vincent Jackson was named as the Bucs' man of the year, making him one of 32 players up for the NFL's Walter Payton man of the year award.
Jackson, 31, one of the team's most active players in community service, has put considerable time into his efforts for military families, including publishing a book he wrote, Danny Dogtags, about the challenges children face while relatives are deployed in military service.
THREE UP: One day after placing three players on injured reserve, the Bucs filled up the openings by promoting three practice squad players: WR Tavarres King, DT George Uko and TE Evan Rodriguez.
DT Gerald McCoy (knee), TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins (back) and WR Louis Murphy (ankle) are all done for the season, and the final two games will give the Bucs a chance to evaluate young players.
Tampa Bay also signed former San Jose State WR Chandler Jones and former Northern Iowa CB Varmah Sonie to the practice squad.
King, 24, was a fifth-round pick of the Broncos in 2013 after scoring 17 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Georgia. Uko, 22, went undrafted after leaving USC following his junior year, then spent time in the preseason with the Saints before being cut. Rodriguez, 26, started five games in coach Lovie Smith's final season with the Bears, working as a fullback and tight end, getting four catches for 21 yards.
Jones, 23, was prolific at San Jose State, with 79 catches for 1,356 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior last season, with 11 TDs as a junior. Sonie had nine interceptions for the Arena League's Portland Thunder, where he was a teammate of Bucs DE T.J. Fatinikun.
The Bucs also released backup CB Crezdon Butler, who started three games this season and had 14 total tackles.