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Tom Brady believes he will get more out of Tampa Bay Buccaneers star wide receiver Mike Evans than EA Sports believes he will in the Madden 22 video game.
“I saw EA Madden announce Mike Evans is rated 91 … what league have they been watching for the last seven years,” Brady wrote in his Instagram story, which Zac Blobner of WDAE captured on Twitter.
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Zac Blobner/Instagram
Brady reiterated his appreciation of the video game as he was on the cover with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“EA Madden, it’s all love,” Brady wrote. “I’ll always think my rating isn’t high enough no matter what it is. Still blessed to be on the best football game ever. The Bucs should be the highest rated team this time right?”
Brady has a 97 rating for the game per ESPN’s Michael Rothstein. Mahomes came in as the top-rated quarterback at 99 with Brady being second.
Tampa as a team did get the highest overall team rating at 92 for Madden 22.
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Evans Hints at Dissatisfaction With Madden Rating
While Brady critiqued the Evans’ rating on Madden 22 before backing off, Evans made a stronger statement on Instagram about the game.
“People still play Madden,” Evans questioned in the comments section of the Bucs’ post.
Notably fans chimed in and suggested Evans’ rating should be higher. Evans made a case for a higher rating in 2020 with 70 catches, 1,006 yards, and 13 touchdowns. He also became the first wide receiver ever to post 1,000 yards annually in his first seven seasons, besting Hall-of-Famer Randy Moss.
Evans ranks ninth among the to receivers in Madden 22 per Rothstein. That’s behind Davante Adams (99), DeAndre Hopkins (98), Tyreek Hill (98), Stefon Diggs (97), Julio Jones (95), Michael Thomas (94), Keenan Allen (93), and Amari Cooper (92).
Buccaneer.com’s Carmen Vitali wrote that the Bucs received a few other snubs besides Evans, too. Bucs linebacker Devin White is 85, tackle Donovan Smith is 73, and tight end Rob Gronkowski is 86.
Evans Likes Being The Hunted
Evans as bigger fish to fry than disproving a Madden rating this fall. He relishes being the team to beat in the NFL.
“I’ve been waiting for this for seven years, now,” Evans said per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I mean, that’s what we want. When we were going to Pittsburgh my rookie year, we wanted to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, everybody wants to come beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So that’s what you want, and we look forward to the challenge this year.”
Evans never played in a playoff game until last season after joining the Bucs as a first-round pick from Texas A&M in 2014. He played through five losing seasons except for 2016 when the Bucs went 9-7.
The three-time Pro Bowler started training camp with a bang as he caught Brady’s pass during a drill and jumped over the field barrier to greet fans according to Stroud.
“My momentum carried me over and the fans sent me back like they always do, they pushed me back over,” Evans said, though a video confirmed his foray into fandom was intentional. “It’s exciting having fans back. There’s some normalcy. That’s why we play the game for our fans, and it was good to see them.”
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