It’s natural that Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans would have strong feelings about Jameis Winston.
But as much as he loves his friend who helped him put up big numbers, he knows he has a rare opportunity this year with Tom Brady’s arrival in Tampa Bay.
During a video chat on Instagram with former Bucs wideout Louis Murphy, Evans expressed great anticipation about Brady’s arrival.
“Bro, you played receiver, bro. Obviously, I’m excited,’' Evans said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Like, Jameis is my dawg. That’s going to be my bro forever, right? That’s going to be my bro forever. Like I wish him nothing but the best. Look, he’s been my quarterback for as long as I’ve played football. He’s been my quarterback for five seasons. My rookie year, he was still in college. I played with Josh and Mike G. Josh McCown and Mike G(lennon). I liked them, too. But I’ve been with Jameis for five seasons. The most of my career. I played with Johnny Manziel for two seasons. But I’ve known him for three. So [Winston] has been the most I’ve been with as far as at quarterback, so I’m always going to have love and respect for Jameis. I think he’s a hell of a player.
“If we didn’t get Tom? Then obviously we were going to keep Jameis. I don’t know for sure. I’m not the G.M. I’m not a coach. Obviously, I wanted Jameis back because that’s my bro. The opportunity to get Tom Brady. Like, that’s Tom Brady, bro. Like that’s the greatest of all-time. He’s a franchise changer. Like he’s about to change the franchise. Like, ticket sales are going through the roof. Like prime time games. And he understands the game of football to nobody else understands that level besides the greats and it’s going to be great to work with him, you understand what I’m saying. The young receiving corps we got, the tight ends we’ve got, we’ve got Gronk coming in. . .it’s going to be great for the city. And it’s going to be just great overall. Hopefully we have a great season, everybody stays healthy and it pans out the way we want.’'
Evans has six straight 1,000-yard seasons to start his career, joining Randy Moss as the only player to achieve that.
So while Winston helped, the possibility of playing with a guy with six rings is clearly the kind of opportunity other great players will be excited about.