The 2021 season was a career-year for Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans. Heading into 2022, he decided to take aim at one of his most hated rivals.
In a recent interview, Evans made it clear just how much he and the rest of the team dislike the rival New Orleans Saints. He needed just five words to express how he feels:
“We don’t like the Saints,” he said, per Evan Winter of AtoZ Sports Nashville. That statement has nearly a thousand likes, comments and retweets already.
Buccaneers fans were delighted to hear Evans call out their arch-rivals by name. Naturally, Saints fans took to the replies and expressed how the feeling is mutual.
Despite playing 15 games against the New Orleans Saints, Mike Evans has rarely dominated against them the way he does against other teams.
Evans has 48 receptions for 730 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games against the Saints. He has significantly more against the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers in the same number of games.
But Evans did have one of the most important catches of his career against the Saints in the 2020 playoffs. His lone reception against New Orleans in their Wild Card playoff game was a three-yard touchdown that helped clinch the 30-20 win.
The hatred runs deep between the two teams. How will it boil over in 2022?