State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, makes a point on the state house floor. (Provided photos)

Three months after her son graduated from the University of Illinois, Kam Buckner’s mother was still expecting a bill for his education to show up in the mail. 

“My mother, who spent 30-plus years as a (Chicago Public Schools) educator, did not believe the promises that coaches would make when they would come into her home and say, ‘I want your son to come play here and if he plays here, he will go to school for free,’” said the standout defensive lineman at Chicago’s Morgan Park High School, who is now a state representative. “My mom’s like ‘How’s that possible? They’re not going to pay you to play football … They’re not going to pay you because you know how to chase a quarterback.’ She thought it was a scam.” 

With their parents not having the financial means to send them to college, Buckner and his four sisters all netted scholarships – his older sisters for academics, and he and his younger sister for athletics.  

Buckner, who has worked for U.S Sen. Dick Durbin and the mayor of New Orleans, said playing football at Illinois started his “an incredible journey.” 

“It’s something that set me on this path… I was grateful for the opportunity and to use football as a conduit to get an education,” he said. 

He said the skills he learned on the football field and especially in the locker room were key to making him the person he is today. 

“You’ve got to find a way to get along with people who you don’t necessarily know or like or agree with,” Buckner said. “I grew up in a pretty homogeneous neighborhood and community. My high school was pretty much homogeneous. The church I went to was the same way. This is Chicago, right? It’s the most diverse segregated city in the world. 

“Being in that locker room in east central Illinois, listening to country music, and having teammates who literally grew up on farms, and having teammates who were Republicans and conservatives, and having other teammates who didn’t necessarily believe in government, and other ones who didn’t believe in God, you’re one team. You’ve got to depend on each other, because if I let your personal background or your personal ideology sway me into not humanizing you to a certain extent, I may hurt myself on the field because of that. I’ve got to be able to trust you or injury is at stake. It also taught me it’s harder to judge someone when you know their story.” 

He said he has football friends to this day that he totally disagrees with politically, but he knows their stories and that their views do not come from a place of malice. 

“We could use a lot more of that in our politics, not just in our city and state, but around the country,” Buckner said. 

Even though successful in football, the three-term state representative dreamed of a future in another sport growing up. 

“I was a Michael Jordan fan. I thought I was going to the NBA. At some point, I stopped

Buckner makes a point during a state House committee meeting.

growingvertically and started growing horizontally,” Buckner said. “Football was a natural fit … I was super excited getting a free education.” 

Growing in the Roseland and Morgan Park neighborhoods of Chicago, he also has ties to the Bronzeville area of the city, which he represents as a legislator. His grandmother worked in a store inside a home directly across from where Buckner currently lives, 

“This community is special to me,” he said. “Both my mom and dad’s sides of the family have deep roots in Bronzeville.” 

While working for Senator Durbin, Buckner went to law school at night at DePaul University. After school, he would study for an hour in the library and then work at a club as a bouncer until 2 or 3 in the morning. 

“I was making like $22,000 and living in my mom’s basement. I was fresh out of football, so my stature gave me some opportunities,” he said. “I would sleep two or three hours and do it all over again.” 

After spending six years working for Senator Durbin, Buckner headed to New Orleans for a little over two years, seeking a new challenge. 

“I felt like we were doing God’s work down there,” he said. “We were literally rebuilding the city that had been devasted by Hurricane Katrina … We were really fighting against this narrative that they were stupid for even existing in that space. So, we were building everything from roads and infrastructure and bridges to the school system, public works system, New Orleans Police Department.” 

After about a year, however, even though loving the work he was doing, Buckner began to feel like he was “cheating” on Chicago. 

“I would read the news. I would hear about all the things that were going on here at home,” Buckner said. 

Buckner as a football player at the University of Illinois

During Hurricane Isaac, New Orleans’ first test after Katrina, Buckner spent four days living at New Orleans City Hall. During his limited breaks during the crisis, he began to think about home and finding a way to come back to his hometown. 

It was a job with the Cubs that got him back home. 

Buckner, who spent his summers at Comiskey Park, describes the ethos of his Chicago journey as a young man on the South Side as “adhering to the Gospel according to Harold – Harold Washington, Harold’s Chicken and Harold Baines. That’s my childhood.” 

“The Cubs oddly enough were looking for someone to come in and do some political stuff,” Buckner said. “They wanted to move the Wrigley Field renovation project along. They had a lot of issues with the city.” 

After three years with the Cubs, he went to World Sports Chicago, bringing international sports like archery and rowing to youths in the city. 

In 2018, he was urged to take over as state representative of the 26th District. 

“Springfield wasn’t something that was attractive to me. It had a number of issues with ethics and whatnot,” Buckner said. “It didn’t seem like a place you could get a lot of stuff done, especially if you were a new, forward-thinking person.” 

After giving it some thought, he jumped into the appointment race and got picked for the post. 

“It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The timing was perfect,” Buckner said. “I came at a time of a power shift and things changing, a brand new Springfield. I’ve gotten the chance to help set the framework for a new and improved Black Caucus … It’s been a great ride so far.” 

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com