Michael Lynn Evans III (born August 21, 1993) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). Evans played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies, earning consensus All-American honors after recording a school record of 1,394 receiving yards on 69 receptions in 2013. He was selected by the Buccaneers in the first round with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.
Evans has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times and was a second-team All-Pro in 2016 and 2023. Evans holds nearly every major Buccaneers franchise receiving record, including career receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He won a Super Bowl championship in Super Bowl LV over the Kansas City Chiefs. He has a record ten 1,000-yard receiving seasons to start a career.
Evans attended Ball High School in Galveston, Texas, where he played basketball, football, and ran track for the Tors athletic teams.[1] In basketball, he averaged 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists as a senior.[2] He only played football during his senior year, and was thus not heavily recruited by college football programs.[3] As a senior, he earned second-team District 24-4A honors after making 25 receptions for 648 yards and seven touchdowns.[4][5]
In track & field, Evans competed in the jumping events. He got personal-best leaps of 14.11 meters in the triple jump and 6.28 meters in the long jump.[6] He also posted a 4.54 time in the 40-yard dash at football camp and was a member of the 4 × 100m and 4 × 200m relay squads.[7]
He was recruited by Texas A&M as a wide receiver and eventually signed to play for the Aggies.[8][9][10]
While attending Texas A&M University, Evans played for the Texas A&M Aggies football team from 2011 to 2013.[11] After being redshirted as a freshman in 2011, he had 82 receptions for 1,105 yards and five touchdowns in 2012.[12][13] On the year, he recorded three games with at least 100 receiving yards.[14] He received freshman All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors from the league's coaches.[15]
In the 2013 game against #1 Alabama, Evans caught seven passes for a school-record 279 yards in the 49–42 loss.[16] During the game against #24 Auburn, he broke his own record after he compiled 11 receptions for 287 yards and four touchdowns.[17] As a sophomore in 2013, Evans was a first-team All-SEC selection.[18] On December 17, 2013, it was announced that Evans was selected to the 2013 Associated Press All-America Team, First-team.[19] Evans finished the 2013 season with 69 receptions for 1,394 yards and twelve touchdowns.[20][21]
On January 2, 2014, Evans announced that he would forgo his final two seasons of his collegiate eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL draft.[22] The majority of analysts and scouts projected him to be a consensus top 10 pick and a first round draft selection. He was ranked the top wide receiver in the draft by Sports Illustrated[23] and the second best wide receiver by NFLDraftScout.com.[24]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Evans with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, one pick after his college teammate Jake Matthews.[26] It was the first time Texas A&M had two Top 7 draft picks in the same draft since John Kimbrough and Jim Thomason in 1941.[27] He was the second wide receiver taken after Sammy Watkins was picked by the Buffalo Bills with the fourth overall pick. On June 12, 2014, Evans signed a four-year rookie contract worth $14.6 million, with an $8.96 million signing bonus.[28]
Evans made his professional regular season debut on September 7, 2014, in the Buccaneers' season-opener against the Carolina Panthers, logging five receptions for 37 yards.[29] On September 28, 2014, Evans caught four passes for 65 receiving yards, including his first career touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Mike Glennon in a 27–24 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.[30] In Week 9 against the Cleveland Browns, Evans caught seven passes for 124 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a 22–17 loss.[31] The following week, he had seven catches for 125 receiving yards and a touchdown in a 27–17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.[32] On November 16, 2014, in a 27–7 victory over the Washington Redskins, Evans caught seven passes for 209 receiving yards and two touchdowns.[33] He became the first rookie receiver to have three consecutive games of 100 yards and at least one touchdown since Randy Moss in 1998.[34] He also became the youngest player in NFL history to catch for 200 or more yards in one game.[35] Evans was also the fifth rookie of the Super Bowl era to record 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a game, the first player to accomplish that feat since Anquan Boldin in 2003.[36] He received National Football Conference (NFC) Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance.[37]
Evans finished his rookie season with 68 receptions for 1,051 yards and 12 touchdowns, setting franchise records and becoming a part of the first pair of Buccaneers receivers (alongside veteran Vincent Jackson) to receive 1,000 yards in a single season together.[38][39] Evans was ranked tied for fourth in the NFL in receiving touchdowns.[40] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.[41] He was ranked 75th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.[42]
On September 20, 2015, Evans appeared in his first game of the season against the New Orleans Saints after missing the season-opener with a hamstring injury.[43] The next week, Evans caught seven passes for 101 receiving yards in a 19–9 loss to the Houston Texans.[44] During Week 7 against the Redskins, Evans caught eight passes for a season-high 164 yards and a touchdown in a 31–30 loss.[45] On November 8, 2015, Evans caught eight passes for 150 receiving yards in a 32–18 loss to the New York Giants.[46] The following game, he finished with another eight receptions for 126 yards during a 10–6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.[47] On December 17, 2015, he made a season-high nine receptions for 157 yards against the St. Louis Rams.[48]
Through 15 games, Evans racked up 1,206 yards and three touchdowns, with an average of 16.3 yards per catch.[49]
Evans started the Buccaneers' 2016 season opener, making five receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown in a 31–24 defeat of the Falcons.[50] On September 25, 2016, Evans caught 10 passes for 132 receiving yards and a touchdown in a 37–32 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.[51] Evans became the first player in the Buccaneers' history to catch a touchdown pass in three consecutive games to start a season. During a Week 7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Evans caught eight passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns.[52] On November 3, 2016, he caught a season-high 11 passes for 150 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a 43–28 loss to the Falcons.[53] He caught a pass on the sidelines which was debated as the "catch of the year" at NFL.com and suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit on the play and was placed on concussion protocol.[54] On November 27, 2016, he caught eight passes for 104 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a 14–5 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, becoming the fourth player in NFL history to begin his career with three consecutive seasons of 1,000 yards receiving. He was also the first receiver in franchise history with two receiving touchdowns in the first quarter of a game.[55] On December 20, 2016, Evans was selected to the Pro Bowl, the first of his career. His selection made him the first Buccaneers receiver since Vincent Jackson in 2012 to be picked, and the first receiver drafted by the Buccaneers to be selected for the Pro Bowl since Mark Carrier in 1989. On January 1, 2017, Evans caught 5 passes for 65 yards and 1 touchdown in a 17–16 win against the Panthers tying his franchise record of 12 receiving touchdowns in a single season.[56]
Evans finished his third season off with 96 receptions for 1,321 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 16 starts.[57] He was ranked 29th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.[58]
On April 17, 2017, the Buccaneers picked up the fifth-year option on Evans's contract.[59]
Due to Hurricane Irma, Evans and the Buccaneers had to move their Week 1 game to later in the season. On September 17, 2017, in his season debut in Week 2, Evans recorded seven receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown in the 29–7 victory over the Chicago Bears.[60] Over the next three games, Evans had one touchdown and averaged 61 yards, before a 95-yard performance with a touchdown in the Week 6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals,[61] followed by 88 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the Buffalo Bills. In Week 8, Evans was held to 60 yards before a disastrous Week 9 against the Saints. Not only was Evans held to 13 yards, he involved himself in a fight between Saints rookie Marshon Lattimore and injured teammate Jameis Winston. Evans was not ejected, but flagged for a personal foul,[62] and later suspended one game[63] despite an appeal.[64] He returned with 92- and 78-yard efforts, before two more poor weeks of 25 and 33 yards. In Week 15, Evans had his first touchdown in eight weeks, en route to 79 yards in the loss to the Falcons.[65] Week 16 was Evans' only 100+ yard game of the season, 107 yards on six receptions in another loss to the Panthers.[66] In Week 17's 31–24 win over the New Orleans Saints, Evans became the third receiver in NFL history to begin his career with four consecutive years of 1,000 yards receiving after catching five passes for 55 yards.[67] Overall, he finished the 2017 season with a team-leading 71 receptions for 1,001 receiving yards, but only five receiving touchdowns for the 5–11 Buccaneers.[68]
On March 9, 2018, Evans signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract extension with the Buccaneers with $55 million guaranteed.[69]
On September 8, Evans caught seven passes for 147 yards and a touchdown in a season-opening 48–40 win over defending the NFC South champion Saints.[70] The next week, Evans caught ten passes for 83 yards and a touchdown in a 27–21 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.[71] In a 30–27 loss to the Steelers on Monday Night Football in Week 3, Evans caught 6 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, breaking the Buccaneers franchise record for touchdown receptions in a career with his 35th.[72] He eclipsed 5,000 career yards with 59 yards in Week 4 (at 25 years 40 days, the second youngest player to this mark by 113 days to Randy Moss) and after a bye week, Evans caught four passes for 58 yards in a 34–29 loss to the Falcons, breaking Mark Carrier's Buccaneers franchise record for receiving yards in a career. The following week, Evans caught 7 passes for 107 yards in a 26–23 win over the Browns, his 16th game with 100+ receiving yards, again breaking a Mark Carrier franchise record.[73] Evans then led all NFL receivers in Week 8 with 179 yards (a career second-best) on six receptions in a 37–34 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, which included a career-long 72 yard reception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.[74] The next two weeks were far less successful: In Week 9, Evans had just one reception for 16 yards on 10 targets against the Panthers,[75] and three receptions for 51 yards in Week 10. He rebounded in Week 11's 38–35 loss to the Giants with six catches for 120 yards and a touchdown and recovered a fumble by quarterback Jameis Winston in the end zone for another touchdown. In Week 12, he again broke the century mark with 116 yards on six receptions in the 27–9 win over th 49ers.[76] In the game, he passed 1,000 receiving yards on the season, joining Randy Moss and A. J. Green as the only receivers in NFL history to begin their careers with five consecutive 1,000+ yard seasons.[77] In Week 17, during a 34–32 loss to the Falcons, Evans caught six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns; with that performance Evans broke the Buccaneers franchise record for receiving yards in a single season and became the youngest receiver in league history to reach 6,000 yards receiving in a career.[78][79]
Evans finished his fifth season with 86 receptions for a career-high 1,524 yards and nine total touchdowns. On January 7, 2019, Evans was selected to his second Pro Bowl as an injury replacement for Julio Jones.[80] As a result, Evans became the first Buccaneers wide receiver in franchise history to be selected to multiple Pro Bowls.[81] He was ranked 53rd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019.[82]
Following a lackluster start to the 2019 season, in which he was recovering from the flu and failed to reach 100 combined yards in the first two weeks, Evans broke out during Week 3 in a 32–31 loss to the Giants, where he caught eight passes for 190 yards and a career-best three touchdown receptions.[83] The following week, Evans caught four passes for 89 yards and a 67-yard touchdown in a 55–40 win over the Rams.[84] After being held without a catch in Week 5 against the Saints, Evans had 96 yards and a two-point conversion in the 37–26 loss to the Panthers.[85][86] During Week 8 against the Tennessee Titans, Evans finished with 198 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the 27–23 loss, joining Roger Carr (1976) as the only players with two 190-yard receiving games in the first eight weeks of a season since the merger as well as breaking the Buccaneers' franchise record for receptions in a career previously held by James Wilder.[87] During Week 9 against the Seahawks, Evans finished with 180 receiving yards and a touchdown as the Buccaneers lost 40–34 in overtime.[88] The following week, in a 30–27 win over the Cardinals, Evans caught four passes for 82 yards.[89] In the process, Evans became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 7,000 career receiving yards.[90] In Week 12, during a 35–22 win over the Falcons, Evans caught four passes for 50 yards.[91] In the process, Evans joined Randy Moss as the only players in NFL history to begin their careers with six consecutive seasons of at least 1,000 yards receiving.[92] In Week 14, during a 38–35 win over the Indianapolis Colts, Evans caught one pass for 61 yards and a touchdown but injured his hamstring during the play and left the game.[93] On December 17, 2019, Evans was selected to the 2020 Pro Bowl, the third of his career.[94] On December 18, 2019, Evans was placed on injured reserve after suffering a hamstring injury in Week 14.[95]
Evans finished his sixth season with 67 receptions for 1,157 yards and eight touchdowns.[96] He was ranked 30th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020.[97]
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