{"id":811364,"date":"2026-03-14T06:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T06:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/811364\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T06:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T06:08:16","slug":"mike-evans-sends-forever-grateful-message-to-tampa-bay-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/811364\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Evans sends &#8216;forever grateful&#8217; message to Tampa Bay fans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nfl\/players\/afbd09a1\/mike-evans\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Evans<\/a> penned an emotional <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nfl\/tampa-bay-buccaneers\/buccaneers-news-mike-evans-agent-statement-departure\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">farewell letter to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers community<\/a> following his exit in the 2026 offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Evans enjoyed an incredible stint with the Buccaneers for 12 seasons. He shined as their top star receiver throughout the 2010s and 2020s, helping them win the Super Bowl in 2020-21.<\/p>\n<p>However, his time with the franchise came to an end this offseason. He accepted a three-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers, seeking a stronger chance to chase his second Super Bowl title. Moving on from a team that gave him so much, Evans <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/gregauman\/status\/2032615602758578551?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">released a letter that showed his complete appreciation<\/a> for the organization and the fanbase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough my journey is taking me to a new team and a new chapter in San Francisco, please know this \u2013 I will always be a Buc at heart. Texas A&amp;M and Tampa helped shape me into the player and the man I am today, and I will forever be grateful for the unwavering support you gave me and my family,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m excited for what\u2019s ahead and the opportunity to start fresh, but I truly hope you will continue to follow my journey and route for me from afar. The bond we built will always mean the world to me. Thank you for everything, Tampa. Forever grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A message from Mike Evans to Bucs fans: \u201cForever grateful.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lV0OjnmoTG\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/lV0OjnmoTG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Greg Auman (@gregauman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gregauman\/status\/2032615602758578551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s next for Buccaneers after Mike Evans&#8217; departure<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3734653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mike-Evans-sends-forever-grateful-message-to-Tampa-Bay-fans-2.jpg\" alt=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) celebrates with offensive tackle Luke Goedeke (67) after a touchdown during the first half against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\"  \/>Bob Donnan-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Mike Evans will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest receivers in the NFL history, especially in the Buccaneers&#8217; Hall of Fame gallery.<\/p>\n<p>Evans took part in 176 regular-season games throughout his 12-year stint with Tampa Bay. He racked up 866 catches for 13,052 yards and 108 touchdowns. In the 10 playoff games he played in, he made 52 receptions for 801 yards and six touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay has the receiver depth to absorb the loss of Evans in the rotation. They have Emeke Egbuka and Chris Godwin among others to have the offense remain potent next season. However, they will miss the receiver that made their attack explosive throughout his time there.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Evans penned an emotional farewell letter to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers community following his exit in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,700,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-811364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-mike-evans","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-tampa-bay","13":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","14":"tag-tampabay","15":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116226039535409501","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}