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You don’t craft a reputation like the one Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has over the last decade by being a selfish player or by thinking about records over wins.
But Evans is human, and the idea of being this close to tying an NFL record set by the greatest wide receiver of all time, Jerry Rice, would matter to anyone.
It’s also worth pointing out that if Evans can tie Rice’s NFL record of 11 consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons with another big year in 2024, it would probably mean things are going pretty well for the Buccaneers.
“I don’t, like, list off things, but that’s one of them that’s in the back of my mind because everybody’s talking about it,” Evans told NFL.com on July 24. “That’s been a record around for how many years now? Over 20 years? So, that’s something I definitely want to accomplish, and just help the team win ball games and be better than we were last year.”
Evans already holds the NFL record for most consecutive seasons with 1,000-yard receiving seasons to start a career with 10 after putting up 79 receptions for 1,255 yards and an NFL-leading 13 touchdown catches in 2023.
Some of Rice’s Records May Never Be Brooken
The NFL records that belong to Rice show a football player unlike any the game has ever seen.
While Evans tries to tie the record Rice set from 1986 to 1996 with the San Francisco 49ers, Rice still owns some of the most important records in NFL history, including career receiving yards (22,895), career receptions (1,549), career touchdown receptions (197), career touchdowns (208), career yards from scrimmage (23,540), career all-purpose yards (23,546), career postseason receiving yards (2,245), career postseason touchdowns receptions (22) and most career 1,000-yard receiving seasons (14).
Rice, who played for 20 seasons, is also the oldest player to catch a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl at 40 years and 105 days old.
Ironically, that touchdown came in a loss to the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII
Evans Has Everything in Place to Break Record
Evans seems to have gotten better with age. His 1,255 receiving yards in 2023 were the second-highest total of his career, as were his 13 touchdown receptions.
One other cool stat about Evans? He hasn’t fumbled in five years. That’s a stretch in which he’s hauled in 375 receptions.
Evans also has everything set up to succeed in 2024, starting with signing a 2-year, $52 million contract and including the return of quarterback Baker Mayfield along with an improved offensive line and improved depth in the receiving corps.
In what’s become the golden age of NFL wide receivers, Evans is still considered one of the NFL’s best at 31 years old. Which is amazing … until you consider Rice had his record 14th 1,000-yard season when he was 40 years old.
From NFL.com: “Evans (and the rest of today’s wideouts) seems highly unlikely to repeat such a feat as playing to 42 years of age, but the five-time Pro Bowler does have the advantage of youth on his side relative to Rice. Despite a decade already in the league, Evans only turns 31 in August, still well within his difference-making years — especially for a big-bodied, contested-catch maven. He should also benefit from another year of chemistry with quarterback Baker Mayfield after both received extensions from Tampa Bay during the offseason.”