Mike Evans ties Jerry Rice's receiving record in grand fashion History couldn't wait much longer. Actually, it was tapping its watch and wondering whether the lights would be turned out Sunday at Raymond James Stadium before Mike Evans could join it. Somewhere between Bucky Irving's ill-advised touchdown run and Todd Bowles' concern over giving the Saints another shot at tying the game they needed to win the NFC South, the Bucs had to figure out a way to get the ball to the best offensive player in club history just one more time. Mike Evans was sitting on 80 yards receiving, needing only 5 more to tie Jerry Rice's NFL record of 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons. That's when Irving scored on an 11-yard run with 1:51 remaining to give the Bucs a 27-19 lead. The Bucs needed to get another stop so offensive coordinator Liam Coen could dial up one more pass to Evans for record. "I told Liam, ‘Don't worry we've got this,'" Vita Vea said. "Then we started giving up yards. Then I had to talk to the defense and say, ‘We're doing this for Mike.'" The Saints managed to get three first downs before rookie Spencer Rattler fired incomplete four times, giving the Bucs the ball after burning their last time out with 36 seconds remaining. Bowles trusted Coen to make the right call and Baker Mayfield not to throw an interception. "It was awfully close," Bowles said. "It was a matter of what kind of pass we were going to throw. I didn't want an interception. We talked about screens and slants, and we knew they were going to double him. We motioned him over to get him open. We did a good job of getting it to him." The entire game, Evans heard Saints players calling out wherever he lined up. They were keenly aware of Rice's record. "The Saints, they didn't make it easy," said Evans, who did not have a catch in the first quarter. "They knew what was at stake. They were talking the whole time. They said, "Stay on 13, outside leverage, I've got your help inside.' They kept saying it over and over, so we knew they were aware of that record." The 9-yard reception wasn't anything special, but you will see it 100 times this week and it will be sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "They were trying to get off the field. And obviously, the Saints were down by eight points, so they were trying to stop them and give me another opportunity to chase history, so I appreciate them for that," Evans said. "And like I said, we've got more work to do. "We felt like we had it won. The play call was so good by Liam. That was actually the play that Bucky scored on. We were going to run that play again in the red zone to get to the 5, but Bucky is just so good he made a play. Baker found him, and he scored to give us the lead. But shoutout to my teammates and the coaching staff for making that possible." When Evans made the catch, "1,000 yards!" flashed on the scoreboard. With the home fans losing their minds, the Bucs players came off the bench to mob Evans. "He's always put the team first," Mayfield said. "That's why you love him. That's why we appreciate having him. We're lucky to have him, and he's underappreciated throughout the media, the league, and he's one of one. He deserves that. Obviously, you saw the stadium erupt, the sideline erupt. You can tell how much people care about him and what that means for everybody around him." It was a tough journey for Evans, who missed three games and needed a month to recover from a hamstring injury. "It was a grind to get back," he said. "It really was. This was probably my worst hamstring injury since my rookie season. I got hurt in (organized team activities), and I was out for like six weeks. This was probably like my second-worst hamstring injury I've had in my life. "I kept telling (trainer) Bobby (Slater) and the training staff, they did a hell of a job of getting me back. He was telling me every time I was outside running in that heat and running all those sprints, he kept saying, ‘We are going to get those 1,000 yards, and we are going to the playoffs.' I just stuck with it, and we got it done." Evans also earned a performance bonus of $3 million for catching more than 70 passes (74) and reaching 1,000 yards receiving (1,004). He said he was thinking about celebrating at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino. How could he lose? There's no safer bet in the NFL than Mike Evans getting his thousand. Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times, published 6 January 2025