Jerry Rice Sends Strong Message After Mike Evans' Historic Season

It was mission accomplished for Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans on Sunday. Evans entered Week 18’s game against the New Orleans Saints at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida looking to extend his streak of consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards to 11. 

He finally got there after a late nine-yard reception off a pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield in the Bucs’ 27-19 victory.

With that catch, Evans became just the second player ever in the history of the NFL to have an 11-season streak of 1,000 receiving yards. The other player? It’s none other than former San Francisco 49ers superstar wideout Jerry Rice, who is also widely regarded as the best to ever play the position in NFL history.

Rice, who is now 62 years old, sent a powerful message to Evans after the latter’s historic feat.

“Congrats GOAT! 11 straight 1,000 yd seasons!Looking forward to you being part of @goatfuel Team!” Rice shared in a post on Instagram.

Rice holds the all-time record for the longest streak of 1,000 receiving yards in the NFL, as he did it 14 seasons in a row during his days in the league from 1986 to 1996. However, Evans is the first to have 11 straight 1,000 receiving-yard seasons to start an NFL career.

Against the Saints, Evans had 89 receiving yards on nine catches and 14 targets to close out his 2024 NFL campaign with 1,004 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on 74 receptions.