Cover your ears, Allen Iverson.
Mike Evans is already practicing for a potential Olympic appearance three years away.
“This is good practice for me,” Evans told reporters Saturday regarding the flag football portion of the Pro Bowl Games, via Tampa Free Press’ Rock Riley. “The Olympics, most likely I’ll be retired by 2028, how many years is that? Three years, I don’t know. But if I am retired, I would definitely like to play in the Olympics.”
Ever since flag football was added to docket for the upcoming LA28 games, the prospect of NFL athletes participating has been a scintillating thought.
The introduction of flag football to the Pro Bowl formula in 2023 provided a preview to help add to such buzz.
Plenty of players have expressed interest, often speedsters such as Tyreek Hill, but the 6-foot-5, 231-pound Evans would pose a nightmare matchup of another sort altogether.
Of course, his comments on being retired in three years time might pull more focus, especially in the short term.
Evans, who will be 34 heading into the offseason three years from now and less than a month away from 35 when the Olympics are set to start, remains in the midst of a legendary run at wideout.
He’s currently coming off his 11th consecutive 1,000-yard receiving campaign, an extension of his record to begin an NFL career that also tied Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for most consecutive such seasons.
Evans would need to keep that streak up through all three of his upcoming seasons ahead the Olympics to tie Rice’s all-time mark of 14 total 1,000-yard receiving campaigns. To surpass Rice, he’d need to play beyond the 2028 games.
And for any of that to factor into his future decisions, Evans must continue to excel in a Buccaneers offense once again undergoing change.
Thanks to Liam Coen’s departure to coach the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay will enter the 2025 season with its fourth offensive coordinator in as many years — the recently promoted Josh Grizzard.
Although Evans noted he’s always been more focused on getting open than who is calling the plays, he did set forth a goal for the Bucs under Grizzard.
“We’re just trying to get it to that best in the league level,” he said, via the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud. “We were really good last year, one of the tops in the league, but we’re trying to be the best offense in the league. I think Josh can help.”
That will be the aim for the 2025 campaign; perhaps it’ll be winning a gold medal years later.
For now, Evans’ next objective is helping the NFC, currently leading the Pro Bowl Games, 14-7, stave off the AFC by showing out in Sunday’s flag football main event.
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