TAMPA, Fla. – Mike Evans loves living and playing football in Tampa Bay for the Buccaneers.
“Yeah, obviously, it’s no secret that I want to be a Buc for life,” Evans said. It’s rare for players to stay, especially in this day and age, to stay on a team for as long as I have. I just want to finish here.”
The 29-year-old Evans is entering his 10th season in the NFL, all with the Bucs, and he’s hoping for an extension but knows it’s a business. The fact that Buccaneer fans have backed him through the lean years, before Tom Brady, is not lost on Mike.
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“Every time I’m at practice in training camp, somebody is giving me a picture from nine or eight years ago,” Evans said. “It’s cool to see things like that. It’s really humbling, and it’s really an honor to have a great community like Tampa really rock, with me and my family as they have.”
The Galveston Texas basketball, as well as football star, is the first NFL player to gain at least 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first nine seasons. Evans says he’s energized by the new Bucs offense run by offensive coordinator and play caller Dave Canales.
“I love what Dave (Canales) has brought,” Evans said. “I’ve been moved around a lot, but in this offense, I’m going to be moved around even more. It’ll be harder to get a double team on me.”
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Bucs head coach Todd Bowles was told what Evans had to say about the offense that’s moving him around more, and Bowles liked hearing what Evans had to say.
“It’s a different offense,” Bowles said. “He’s (Evans) happy to be in it. He’s happy to learn. He’s full of energy right now. He’s playing like a rookie, and I love that about it, because he’s into it.”
Evans says he’s learned a lot from some of the veterans he’s played with starting with Tom Brady. In fact, Evans has been eating a lot better since he first came into the league, and he credits his diet as one of the reasons he’s been able to be so successful as he gets older on the field.
“I’ve got a chef in both places I live, that’s helped me tremendously,” Evans said. “I work out way more than I did when I was younger, so that’s helped too.”
Right now, Evans is feeling good, but most so-called experts feel the Bucs are in a rebuilding year after Brady, and going with either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask at quarterback may make it a long season.
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Let’s check back with Evans after the Bucs have a few regular season games under their belts.
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