TAMPA, Fla. — If Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise scoring leader Mike Evans has his say, 2025 will pan out just a bit differently than 2024. In addition to helping his team earn a fourth straight NFC South title, he notched 1,000 receiving yards for the 11th consecutive year — matching a record set by Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice — but it came on the final play of the season.
“Hopefully I can do it … early,” Evans said, flashing a smile and letting out a chuckle. The six-time Pro Bowler missed three games with a hamstring injury last season — tied for his longest stretch of missed games as he heads into Year 12. Evans told ESPN that it was one of the most challenging hamstring injuries he has dealt with.
But now he gets his shot at sole possession of the record, and Rice gave him his blessing to do so. Rice has held the record since 1996, although that was in an era when the NFL played only 16 regular-season games before adding a 17th in 2021.
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Rice told Evans in a feature by The Players’ Tribune, “You know that I’m pulling for you right?”
Evans responded to Rice, “That means more to me than you could ever know, so I appreciate that, O.G. You are the original. … This is so surreal right now. This is surreal for me that you know who I am.”
Evans already has the record for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to start a career at 11 — Randy Moss is next at six — but as far as the most 1,000-yard seasons in a career, Evans broke a tie with Moss for second last season and sits behind Rice’s 14.
Rice and Evans had met briefly in 2018, but this was their first time sitting down for an extensive conversation. They talked shop, discussing the nuances of route running, including the post-corner.
“You perfected just route running in general,” Evans said. “But the post-corner is to me your best route, and I’ve learned how to run that route because of you.”
Rice told Evans, “You got to be able to sell routes. You got to make the opponent believe your first cut is really where you’re going to get the ball.”
The two also discussed how they’d go about trying to defend the other and what sharing the record at this time means to both of them.
“Being able to sit down and talk to the greatest receiver ever was pretty humbling,” Evans reflected. “The things he had to say about me — it was a great moment for me. … That’s another thing that was humbling about it — how he [received] me. He showed me love, so that was really cool.”
Evans, who turns 32 in August, is entering the final year of his contract and has not indicated how much longer he wants to continue playing. Previously in 2023, he entered the season expressing dissatisfaction about not having a new contract, but his mindset is different this year.
“I honestly haven’t even thought about [the future],” Evans said. “I just thought about having a great year this year, and we’ll see what happens.”
