Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Michael Lynn Evans III was born on August 21, 1993, in Galveston, Texas. He is a wide receiver in the NFL. 

In his early years, Evans attended Ball High School in Galveston, Texas, where he played basketball, football, and ran track for the Tors athletic teams. He only played football during his senior year, earning second-team District 24-4A honors after making 25 receptions for 648 yards and 7 touchdowns. He posted a 4.54 time in the 40-yard dash at football camp and was a member of the 4x100m and 4x200m relay squads and was recruited by Texas A&M as a wide receiver and eventually signed to play for the Aggies. 

Evans attended Texas A&M University and played for the Texas A&M Aggies football team. After being redshirted as a freshman in 2011, Evan had 82 receptions for 1,105 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2012 and received freshman All-SEC honors from the league's coaches. During the 2013 season, Evan caught seven passes for a school-record 279 yards against Alabama. He received AT&T ESPN All-America Player of the Week honors. As a sophomore in 2013, Evans was a first-team All-SEC selection, and on December 17, 2013, it was announced that Evans was selected to the 2013 AP All-America Team, First Team. He broke his own record after he compiled 11 receptions for 287 yards and 4 touchdowns, finishing the 2013 season with 69 receptions for 1,394 yards and 12 touchdowns.

On January 2, 2014, Evans entered the 2014 NFL Draft and was projected to be one of the top 10 picks in the first round. He was ranked the top wide receiver in the draft by Sports Illustrated and the second best wide receiver by NFLDraftScout.com. As the analysists and scouts projected, Evan was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the seventh pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. On June 12, 2014, Evans signed a four-year rookie contract with the Buccs. Evans made his professional regular season debut against the Carolina Panthers and made five receptions for 37-yards. He caught his first career touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  On November 16, 2014, 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 became the youngest player in NFL history to catch for 200 or more yards in one game. He also is the fifth rookie since the Super Bowl era to record 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a game, and he received NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance. 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 Vincent Jackson to receive 1,000 yards in a single season together. He was ranked fourth in receiving touchdowns and was 1 of 15 players to score 10 touchdowns.

In the 2015 season, Evan racked up 1,206 yards and three touchdowns, with an average of 16.3 yards per catch in 15 games. Among sophomore wide receivers, Evans was ranked third in receiving yards behind Odell Beckham Jr. and Allen Robinson and was also ranked 11th in the league in receiving yards, one of only 26 players to break 1,000 yards and one of 11 players to break 1,200 yards. In 2017, Evans finished the season with a team-leading 71 receptions for 1,001 receiving yards and 5 five touchdowns. On March 9, 2018, Evans signed a five-year contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In week 3, on a Monday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Evans caught 6 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, breaking the Buccaneers franchise record for touchdown receptions in a career, and in week 4 after catching 4 passes for 58-yards, he broke Mark Carrier's Buccaneers franchise record for receiving yards in a career. In week 5 he also broke Mark Carrier's franchise records with his 16th game with 100+ receiving yards. In week 12, 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. Evans finished his fifth season with 86 receptions for a career-high 1,524 yards and 9 total touchdowns. On January 7, 2019, Evans was selected to his second Pro Bowl, becoming the first Buccaneers wide receiver in franchise history to be selected to multiple Pro Bowls.

Evans finished the 2020 regular season with 70 receptions for 1,006 yards and 13 touchdowns. He broke Randy Moss's record with seven consecutive seasons with 1,000 receiving yards. In Super Bowl LV, Evans caught one catch on one target for a 31-yard gain during the 31–9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as drawing four penalties. This earned Evans his first championship as an NFL player.

Evans finished the 2021 regular season with 74 receptions for 1,035 yards and 14 touchdowns. In the Wild Card Round against the Philadelphia Eagles, Evans had nine receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown in the 31–15 victory. In the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams, Evans had eight receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown in the 30–27 loss. On January 26, 2022, Evans was named to his fourth career Pro Bowl as an injury replacement for Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams. He was ranked 53rd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2022.

Against the Carolina Panthers in Week 17, Evans had 10 catches for 207 yards and three touchdowns in the 30-24 win, earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In the 2022 season, Evans had 77 receptions for 1,124 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns in 15 games and starts.

On March 4, 2024, Evans signed a two-year, $52 million contract with the Buccaneers to avoid free agency.