Buckhalter is a cousin of Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Brandon McDonald. Buckhalter has had to deal with adversity over his career. 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. In March 2009 prosecutors in a Philadelphia drug dealing case named Buckhalter as a celebrity client of the alleged dealer, Styles N. Beckles. Buckhalter has not been charged with any crime and strongly denied any link to Beckles.