Mike Evans

Michael Lynn Evans III is an American football wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). Evans played college football at Texas A&M, where he earned consensus first-team All-American honors after recording a school record of 1,394 receiving yards on 69 receptions, and was drafted by the Buccaneers in the first round with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl four times and was a Second-team All-Pro in 2016. Evans holds nearly every major Buccaneers franchise receiving record including, career receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Evans is the only player in NFL history to start his career with eight consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards. He won his first Super Bowl championship on February 7, 2021, in a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Mike Evans’ Early Life and Background

Evans was multi-talented in the athletic field. He played basketball, and football, and ran track for the Tors Athletic team of his Ball High School that he attended in Galveston, Texas. He was a solid basketball player, averaging 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists as a senior. His experience with football started relatively late, in his senior year, and as a result, he wasn’t the most heavily recruited. He earned second-team District 24-4A honors and was eventually recruited by Texas A&M as a wide receiver and signed on to play for the Aggies.
He played for the team from 2011 to 2013. After being redshirted as a freshman in 2011, he had 82 receptions for 1,105 yards and five touchdowns in 2012. He received freshman All-SEC honors for his performance. In the 2013 game against #1 Alabama, Evans caught seven passes for a school-record 279 yards, then went on to break the record after compiling 11 receptions for 287 yards and four touchdowns. He was a first-team All-SEC selection. Evans was selected to the 2013 All-America Team, First-team on December 17, 2013. Evans finished the season with 69 receptions for 1,394 yards and twelve touchdowns.

Who Drafted Mike Evans?

On January 2, 2014, Evans announced that he would forgo the final two seasons of his collegiate eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL Draft. He was projected to be a consensus top-ten pick and a first-round draft selection was a guarantee. He was ranked as one of the top two wide receivers in the draft by every media outlet. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Evans with the seventh overall pick, one pick after college teammate Jake Matthews. It was the first time Texas A&M had two top 7 picks in the same draft since 1941. He was the second wide receiver taken after Sammy Watkins.

Mike Evans’ NFL Journey

After being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2014 NFL Draft, Evans has solidified himself as a mainstay for the Bucs franchise, owning practically every major franchise record including career receptions, yards, and touchdowns. After a solid rookie season that saw him earn All-Rookie honors, Evans’ legend has only continued to grow. A stalwart at the WR position, Evans has a Super Bowl under his belt and is the only player in NFL history to start his career with eight consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards.

Mike Evans teams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014-Present)

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Evans as the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. On June 12, 2014, Evans signed a four-year rookie contract worth $14.6 million, with an $8.96 million signing bonus. On November 16, 2014, Evans caught seven passes for 209 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He became the first rookie receiver to have three consecutive games of 100 yards and at least one touchdown since Randy Moss in 1998. He also became the youngest player in NFL history to catch for 200 or more yards in one game. Evans was also the fifth rookie of the Super Bowl era to record 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a game, even earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the performance. Evans wrapped up his rookie season with totals of 68 receptions for 1,051 yards and 12 touchdowns, marks that set franchise records while becoming a part of the first pair of Buccaneers receivers (alongside veteran Vincent Jackson) to receive 1,000 yards in a single season together. Through 15 games of the 2015 season, Evans racked up 1,206 yards and three touchdowns, with an average of 16.3 yards per catch. In 2016, Evans became the first player in the Buccaneers' history to catch a touchdown pass in three consecutive games to start a season. On November 27, 2016, he caught eight passes for 104 receiving yards and two touchdowns, 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. On December 20, 2016, Evans was selected to his first Pro Bowl, becoming the first Bucs receiver since Vincent Jackson and the first Bucs draftee since Mark Carrier in 1989. Evans finished his third season off with 96 receptions for 1,321 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 16 starts. On April 17, 2017, the Buccaneers picked up the fifth-year option on Evans's contract. 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 in Week 17, finishing with overall totals of 71 receptions for 1,001 receiving yards and a modest 5 receiving touchdowns.

On March 9, 2018, Evans signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract extension with the Buccaneers with $55 million guaranteed. In Week 3, Evans caught 6 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, breaking the Buccaneers’ franchise record for touchdown receptions in a career. He eclipsed the 5,000 receiving yard mark in Week 4, before breaking Mark Carrier’s franchise record with his 16th game of 100+ receiving yards. In Week 17, 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. He finished his fifth season with 86 receptions for a career-high 1,524 yards and nine total touchdowns, earning his second Pro Bowl. In Week 16 of his Super Bowl season, Evans broke the Buccaneers' single-season receiving touchdown record that he himself had set, eclipsing it with 13. In Week 17, Evans set an NFL record as the first wide receiver to record 1,000 yards consecutively in each of his first seven seasons. Evans finished the 2020 regular season with 70 receptions for 1,006 yards and 13 touchdowns. Mike broke the franchise record for receiving yards in a playoff game, finishing with six receptions for 119 yards in the Wild Card Round, before recording his first playoff touchdown in the Divisional Round. In the NFC Championship game, Evans recorded three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. Evans caught one pass on one target for a 31-yard gain, as well as drawing four penalties in Super Bowl LV, earning his first championship. Next season, in week 11, Evans broke the Buccaneer franchise record for touchdowns in a career with his 72nd. He again broke his touchdown reception franchise record with 14 but also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, elongating his streak to eight consecutive seasons. Evans finished the 2021 regular season with 74 receptions for 1,035 yards and 14 touchdowns, earning his fourth Pro Bowl.

Championships and Rings Won by Mike Evans

After the arrival of Tom Brad, Evans and the Buccaneers immediately won a Super Bowl in 2020, the first of Evans’ career.

Mike Evans’ Super Bowl Championship Rings

Mike Evans Awards and Honours

Mike Evans NFL Records

• Most consecutive seasons of 1,000 yards receiving to begin a career – 8

• Youngest player to reach 7,000 career receiving yards – (26 years, 81 days)

• Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards – (25 years, 131 days)[

• Youngest player to have 5 seasons of 1,000 receiving yards – (25 years, 95 days)

• Youngest player to have 6 seasons of 1,000 receiving yards – (26 years, 95 days)

• The youngest player with 200 or more yards in a game – (21 years, 87 days)

Buccaneers franchise records

• Most receiving yards in a season – 1,524 (2018)

• Most receiving touchdowns in a season – 14 (2021)

• Most receiving touchdowns by a rookie in a season – 12 (2014)

• Most receiving yards in a postseason game – 119 (January 9, 2021, vs. Washington Football Team)

• Most consecutive games with at least 1 touchdown reception – 5 (2020)

• Most games of 100 yards receiving in a career – 30 (2014–present)

• Most receiving yards per game in a career – 76.2 (2014–present)

• Most consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons – 8 (2014–present)

• Most seasons of 1,000 yards receiving – 8 (2014–present)

• Most receiving touchdowns in a career – 75 (2014–present)

• Most receiving yards in a career – 9,301 (2014–present)

• Most receptions in a career – 606 (2014–present)

• Most total touchdowns scored in a career – 76 (2014–present)

Mike Evans Net Worth

According to estimates produced by wealthygorilla.com, Mike Evans has a net worth of 25m dollars. This may seem low, but it takes into account tax payments on his salary, as well as the fact that he deferred some of his pay in the restructuring agreement with the Florida franchise.

Evans has a hugely exclusive endorsement agreement with Pepsi that is thought to be worth millions, and in the past, he has worked with Bodyarmor and Gillette.

Mike Evans Contract

Mike Evans signed a 5-year, $82.5 million extension with the Buccaneers on March 12, 2018. Evans received $55 million in guarantees, $38.258 million of which is guaranteed at signing. To get a more comprehensive breakdown of Evans’ contract, click here.

Mike Evans’ family

Evans had a rough childhood. His mother, Heather Kilgore, gave birth to him when she was 14 years old. She was physically abused by his father, Mickey. Evans' maternal uncle, enraged by the abuse his sister endured, murdered Mickey when Evans was 9 years old. Having experienced domestic violence during his childhood, Evans and his wife Ashli founded the Mike Evans Family Foundation in December 2017 to help victims of domestic violence. His foundation has also hosted free football camps for children in his hometown of Galveston.

Evans has three children: Ariah Lynn, Amari Thomas, and Mackenzie.