Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans and Hall of Famer Jerry Rice have been linked in conversation for a while. Last season, Evans reached over 1,000 yards for the 11th consecutive year. It continued Evans’ own record of most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to begin a career, but it also tied a separate record with Rice for 11 straight seasons with 1,000 yards at any time in a career.
Rice is considered the GOAT of wide receivers while to Bucs fans, Mike Evans is their GOAT. They share a piece of history together, and Evans will have a chance to surpass Rice this season with 12 straight years of 1,000 if he can do it this upcoming season. Mike Evans is certainly chasing history, and Rice is rooting for him, too.
Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
The two greats met up for a video that was presented by The Players Tribune and Lincoln where they discussed their mutual accolades.
Mike Evans And Jerry Rice Talk Accomplishments Together
“You know I’m pulling for you, right?” Rice told Evans. “That means more to me than you could ever know. I appreciate that OG,” Evans replied.
They went on to talk some X’s and O’s along with their route running. Evans also talked about how he would guard Rice if he was still playing. At the end, Evans gave Rice a special gift to commemorate his record that Evans has tied with a chance to break this season.
Check out the clip:
This is cool!#Bucs WR Mike Evans and HOF’er Jerry Rice got together on behalf of the @PlayersTribune and Lincoln to talk about their shared 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons record and overall route running.
Evans had a gift for Rice at the end. He can surpass him this season pic.twitter.com/k4Dorh6Yr4
— Matt Matera (@matty4_matera) May 15, 2025
Football Olympics Update Benefits Mike Evans
There was other football news outside of the recent schedule announcement for every team that somewhat applies to Mike Evans, at least in his career aspirations. Per a report from Tom Pelissero and others, the league is going to talk next week in a league meeting in Minnesota about a resolution for NFL players to be eligible for the Olympics in 2028 where flag football is taking place.
Essentially, they’re figuring out a way that can get players play during the Olympics but also protects the team and ownership in case something happens to the player. Some of it is that only one player per team will be allowed to participate.
Mike Evans said at the Pro Bowl practice back in February that he’d be interested in playing in the 2028 Olympics, but that might also mean he’s retired by then. The Pro Bowl has been a flag football game for the last two seasons.
Bucs WR Mike Evans Photo by: USA Today
“This is good practice for me in the Olympics,” Evans said at the time. “Most likely I’ll be retired by 2028, how many years is that? Three years, I don’t know. But if I am retired, I would definitely like to play in the Olympics.”
While Evans said he’d “likely” be retired, that wasn’t a guarantee that he won’t be playing. If Evans was still playing going into the Olympics in the summer of 2028, that would mean he finished the 2027 season, putting him at 14 NFL seasons. Should he still be playing and hopefully for the Bucs, he’d be the one representative for Tampa Bay.
But if Evans was retired like he said he’d probably be, he could play for Team USA with a good chance of winning a gold medal and it would also give another Bucs player a chance to also be on the team.
Olympic gold would be another great recognition in Evans’ fantastic career.
