The National Football league today announced that Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans was voted a FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week for Week 15, in addition to being named a Community MVP by the NFL Players Association.
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Evans put forth a season-best performance in Tampa Bay’s 40-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15, hauling in nine receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Evans ranks third all-time with his seven career games with 150+ receiving yards and multiple receiving touchdowns, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (17) and Tyreek Hill (eight). Evans and New York Jets wide receiver Davante Adams were the only players to record that stat line in Week 15. Among all receivers this past week, Evans ranked second in yards per reception (17.7 – min. five receptions), third in receiving yards, tied for third in catch percentage (81.8% – min. 10 targets) and tied for seventh in receptions.
With his two touchdowns on Sunday, Evans jumped to fourth in the NFL in receiving touchdowns (nine), despite missing three games due to injury, and has totaled 52 receptions for 749 yards on the year. Evans has now notched 50+ catches in each of his first 11 seasons becoming the fifth player in NFL history to accomplish that feat, joining Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Harrison and Torry Holt.
For his career, Evans ranks ninth in league history in receiving touchdowns (103) and 24th in receiving yards (12,429), surpassing Jimmy Smith (12,287), Antonio Brown (12,291) and Brandon Marshall (12,351) this past week. He is 1-of-4 players in league history with 12,000+ receiving yards and 100+ receiving touchdowns in the player’s first 11 seasons, alongside a trio of Hall of Famers in Rice, Harrison and Randy Moss.
Evans is Tampa Bay’s all-time franchise leader in points scored (632), receptions (814), receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, scrimmage yards (12,439) and touchdowns from scrimmage (103).
In addition to his performance on the field, Evans was recognized by the NFLPA for his community involvement this week, hosting his sixth annual Catch for Christmas event. Evans, along with his wife Ashli and the Mike Evans Family Foundation, hosted 16 local kids from Metropolitan Ministries at the AdventHealth Training Center, showing them around the facility and surprising them with gifts from their holiday wish lists.
