Has Mike Evans gone Hollywood?
Absolutely not.
But he did do a sitddown for the Cold As Balls show with actor comedian Kevin Hart on the LOL Network. The premise is Hart sits in an ice tub with an NFL player and talks football and life.
Evans shared a few uplifting nuggets.
Joe was very encouraged by Evans answering “not really” when asked if football is harder on his body now than when he was younger. Evans also added that his recovery from games has “gotten better.”
“I use the cold tub more. I get more massages, and not those type of massages, to help my performance on the field,” Evans said. “Normal massage, staying in the training room.”
As for the future, Evans explained that only after a full season can he assess his physical and mental state for football.
No, Evans didn’t hint at retirement, only a benign nod to it when talking about how Baker Mayfield has inspired him.
“He’s a big reason to why I came back,” Evans said of Mayfield. “The energy that he’s brought to Tampa after Tom [Brady]; and that’s some huge, huge shoes to fill. Huge act to follow. And I think he’s done an unbelievable job winning two division championships, making it to the postseason. But Tampa’s in great hands with Baker. I’m sure he’ll play much longer than I will, but I’m looking forward to a great season this year and competing for a Super Bowl.”
Evans also noted how Brady changed the Bucs’ culture from Day 1 back in 2020.
“Everybody’s energy just changed. Like everybody’s confidence just grew to a whole another level,” Evans said. ” … It was just different. Like when Tom Brady’s around, you have to go hard. It’s just something inside you just makes you want to play harder for that guy because of what he’s done for the game and how he comes to work.”
Reflecting on his career, Evans talked about the impact of his five years of losing during The Lost Decade.
“Personally, it doesn’t fu** with me, but it fu**s with our fan base,” Evans said. “It’s a different kind of energy when you come into the stadium [when you’re losing].”
He went on to say how eye-opening it was back then playing road games against teams with strong support. “It gives them a different type of energy. Early on in my career we didn’t have that,” Evans said.
Now, it sounds like Evans needs to keep winning to stay in the NFL. He talked about the misery of running tons of routes in the Florida heat and not winning, and how losing in the environment “weighs on you.”
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