Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans will be legendary in Tampa Bay regardless of how the rest of his career turns out. But he’s also looking to become legendary in the eyes of the entire league, and the best way to make that happen is to become a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But has he done enough to make that happen?
CBS Sports had nine writers look at 12 NFL players whose Hall of Fame status is in question and voted on whether or not they would select them. A player needed a majority of votes out of the nine voters, and Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans was one of those players — he also got the majority of votes from the writers, garnering seven out of nine.
Here is what CBS Sports had to say about Evans:
“Like Allen, Evans’ career does not include an All-Pro nod. Evans, though, has the distinction of being the first player in NFL history to start his career with 10 consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons, an accomplishment that should significantly help his future Hall of Fame case.
Evans is also one of just four players in NFL history to have at least 750 catches, 10,000 receiving yards and 90 touchdown catches in his first 10 seasons (Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison and Randy Moss are the other three) also has a Super Bowl ring to boot. “
There are other ways to measure this throughout the web, too. Pro Football Reference has what is called its Hall of Fame Monitor, a number dedicated to figuring out a player’s chance at getting inducted. The number 100 is PFR’s base number for an average Hall of Fame player at the position, so that number is a good target — and Mike Evans falls well below that number, earning a 60.80 from PFR.
A lack of All-Pros will likely be pointed to as a big reason why Evans may fall on the edge here, but being notable in other ways can get one into the hall. Evans’ consistency will likely go a long way for voters, and as long as his 1,000-yard streak continues, that may be enough of the stuff of legend to win him some favor. Additionally, a Super Bowl ring massively helps his cause, as few without one can don the gold jacket as easily as those who do.
It should also be noted, however, that wideout is a notoriously hard position to get the nod at. Some great wide receivers like Reggie Wayne and Torry Holt still have not made it in, so Evans will likely have to scratch and claw his way there. Additionally, a lot of his contemporaries have played some great football, so he’ll have to compete with them, too.
All-in-all, Evans doesn’t have what many would consider the traditional case to make it, but he has enough legend and consistency around him that it may be hard to deny him when the time comes.
