Bucs Nation
Xavier Worthy shared an interesting Mike Evans opinion during his Super Bowl media availability.
Welcome to Super Bowl week. No, the Buccaneers are not a part of it— Mike Evans was though. In a lot of ways 2024 wound up being more about Mike Evans as an individual than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a team. While the Buccaneers did clinch their fourth consecutive division title, the season ended with an early postseason exit against team that (at the time) Tampa Bay was expected to beat.
Mike Evans, on the other hand, made NFL history. Evans fought his way back from injury to play in the final seven games of the season, in an effort to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving— Keeeping his own streak alive, while tying Jerry Rice for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in a career. When Evans first returned to action, following the team's bye week, the task seemed lofty. With just those seven Sundays remaining, Evans needed 666 yards— Not impossible (clearly), however, considering at the time he had amassed just 334 yards through the first seven(ish) games of the year 1,000 yards seemed unlikely.
Thanks to massive games against the Panthers and Chargers, as well as a last-second nod from his head coach to chase his place in history, Mike Evans etched himself into NFL lore—again.
2024, was a successful season by most metrics for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a whole, however, the impact it will have on Mike Evans' legacy stands alone. Not only the achievement of reaching 1,000 yards but the manner in which Evans arrived at the milestone earned him more than a record, it created a league-wide moment. Come time for the Hall of Fame voters to lay eyes on Mike Evans' résumé, he won't have the most catches, he cant lay claim to highest peak during his era— He'll have high yardage totals and quite a few touchdowns (currently, Evans is already top-10 in NFL history with a semi-legitmate shot of finishing top-5), but there are lots of players who compile stats.
If you're not a drop-everything superstar you need moments. Moments matter, moments are remembered. Aside from Evans' Super Bowl victory, a game in which he netted just one reception (it was the game's longest and Evans added quite a few game-altering penalties), week 18 of the 2024 season offered the biggest individual moment of Mike Evans' career. It forced the NFL world to pause and look at Mike Evans, give him his flowers and acknowledge his accomplishments. Every national sports talk show may not have ran with Mike Evans in the A-block but his name was featured in a segment, his credentials drilled into the minds of viewers for hours on end.
It's fitting that in a season which will be remembered more for what Mike Evans achieved comparable to his team, he was individually recognized in the preamble for the league's biggest stage.
When asked who he believes the best wide receiver in NFL history is,...
