Evans Officially A Target
January 4th, 2016
Now a target of referees thanks to repeated juvenile behavior.
Yesterday, Mike Evans, the gifted Bucs wide receiver, was doing Mike Evans things: whining about being interfered with play after play after play.
Late in the game yesterday, after jawing matches with Stinking Panthers stud corner Josh Norman, the feared defender got into Evans’ skull and Evans lost it (something Joe predicted on Friday.)
Evans cried to the zebras (uh-gen!) and was tossed for using foul language to them, so Evans stated after the game.
Bucs fans are fed up with his childish on-field personality, and so too is Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV Channel 8. He verbally spanked Evans last night on his station’s Sunday Bucs Bonus show.
“Josh Norman, part of his game, is to be in your head,” Lucas said. “He got in Mike Evans’ head. Be a professional, Mike. For crying out loud, after the Thursday night thing with all the penalties and personal fouls in St. Louis, how many times do we have to say, ‘Ugh! They are young, they just have to learn to be mature.’
“I’m sorry son, this is two years in the league. I’m not saying we need to be Boy Scouts out here, but winning culture includes not doing stupid things.”
Here is the thing: Evans is the new Sgt. Winslow (no, this has nothing to do with Vaseline and Target parking lots).
Winslow constantly barked at referees so much, crying for a flag, he became a target and never got a break from referees as a result, which cost the Bucs a playoff berth in 2010. Winslow wrongly was flagged for offensive interference against Detroit when he was clearly the one interfered with. It wiped out a touchdown that cost the Bucs a win and the playoff tiebreaker to the eventual-Super Bowl champs, the Packers.
Evans has the same label. And it will take a whole lot of good behavior for this rap to fade away.
Like it or not, thanks to Evans’ non-stop b!tching to refs over the past two years, he’s now a target, and perhaps Bucs receivers, too. Good luck getting any calls for the foreseeable future, Mike.
January 4th, 2016 at 6:30 am
Sure Mike had some decent stats this year, but he sure is a cry baby inside. Damn, feel sorry for his wife. This guy was drafted #7 in the draft and needs to play like that. Guy dropped catchable balls all season. This year went to learn from R. Moss, and Im thinking he’s going to be a stud. Exact opposite.
January 4th, 2016 at 6:31 am
So we have a petulant immature tight end and receiver.
January 4th, 2016 at 6:43 am
He’s a biatch. A byproduct of the TO/Chad Johnson era who thinks he’s owed something because he thinks he’s great. His reputation will continue to cost the team until he stops doing it, which seems unlikely given he’s not held accountable.
January 4th, 2016 at 7:03 am
Physical giant —- mental midget.
January 4th, 2016 at 7:11 am
Evans and ASJ,…Punkaneers!
January 4th, 2016 at 7:19 am
ME13 needs to personally apologize to the Referee from yesterday, then go on a public apology tour taking full blame and say that he was very frustrated and emotional out of control. He needs the refs on his side as he mostly uses a shove off to get seperation.
And I wish we all could watch that 2010 Detroit game!!! Win-slow commited at least 28 offensive pass interfernces that game!!!! It was like watching George Costanza during a fire alarm!!!!!!
January 4th, 2016 at 7:20 am
Agreed with everything here, Joe. D-Rome is wondering (hey, I can speak in 3rd person too) when your ASJ article is going to be posted…
January 4th, 2016 at 7:38 am
not sure why Evans went off on ref,but some defenders seem to get away with pass interference on a regular basis.This should be a point of emphasis next year.The quality of officiating needs to be improved throughout the league.
that being said just once I would like to see lovie morph into chuckie and lay into the officials. Time for him to tell Evans to stop worrying about the officials,that is my job.If lovie is going to stand on sidelines like a stoic statue then passionate players are forced to stick up for themselves.have their backs lovie show some emotion ,work the officials get some makeup calls.
January 4th, 2016 at 8:02 am
I think a general public apology is a good idea….followed up with personal notes of apology to individual officials.
But he needs to change his behavior….and that will be difficult because it is based on emotion…..and he probably is right that he is being interfered with.
Refs are human and the can consciously & unconsciously can make non-calls.
If Jameis is a miracle worker….perhaps he can convince Mike to change.
January 4th, 2016 at 8:23 am
This is what you get when you have no accountability from your head coach.
January 4th, 2016 at 8:42 am
All Evans said was “What’s your problem?” then the judge threw the first flag and ejected him. The a second ref threw another flag and approach Evans and got into his face. How the heck can you penalize a player a second time if he has been ejected, he is no longer in the game? That should have been 15 yards not 30 yards. Bad refereeing once again in my opinion, plus Evans was being held and deserved the flag. If Winston had scored he would have tied the all time combined TD in a season with Andrew Luck! The refs took that away from him and I would be angry as well.
January 4th, 2016 at 9:01 am
I was yelling at the TV saying to toss him out of the game. Mike was completely out of line, and I was glad they tossed him.
I don’t know the policy in cases like this, Joe, but will it be possible for him to be suspended? I was in favor of being ejected, but I don’t want him suspended.
Not that it matters…I suspect he will get himself into trouble this off season somehow.
January 4th, 2016 at 9:25 am
There’s a bit of irony in all of this.
Last year at this time we were all gripping about the state of our OL. We were all excited about our WR’s and TE’s and all the targets for #3.
Wow what a difference a year makes!!!
January 4th, 2016 at 9:42 am
I think the Bucs overall were a target, I watched many games where I saw some of the same stupid things the Bucs did on other teams and never saw a flag come out or they would penalize both teams. Mike needs to grow up, but he dropped a lot of balls, but I also think Dirk didn’t use him in the red zone the right way or even use him at all, see the Saints game. I’m the optimist here, bring v-Jax back and go get another receive Jameis will organize some off season workouts, I’m sure, as much as he is allowed to.
January 4th, 2016 at 9:45 am
@StPeteBucsFan
Don’t forget the role injuries played in the WR group this year.
Rrsrq Says
I think the Bucs overall were a target…
100 percent agree.
Yesterday alone I saw plays where offensive linemen literally hugged our defensive players so they couldn’t go after anyone, and refs clearly saw it…yet made no calls.
It happened over and over throughout the season.
January 4th, 2016 at 9:48 am
Let me just say it now. These refs are a paid to do a freaking unbiased job and not to special treat nor target a player. Ive seen tom brady curse the hell out of an official and not get flagged. Every ref who threw that flag should be disciplined and or suspended. I dont care what he said. It doesn’t matter. He has a right to disagree with them. He didn’t shove them touch them. Double standard for sure
January 4th, 2016 at 9:55 am
He deserves it, What A Cry Baby, very disappointing.
With V-Jax out, Evans has shown that he is currently only a Number 2 receiver and not a real number 1.
He has a long way to go to be elite.
January 4th, 2016 at 9:55 am
“He verbally spanked Evans last night on his station’s Sunday Bucs Bonus show.”
_______________________________________________________________
What he needs is for someone to lay in to his bare azz with a belt. I hope he changes some but I don’t think he will. Probably acted like this his whole football life.
January 4th, 2016 at 10:31 am
alot of these former basketball players bring a mismatch opportunity due to height & agility, but they frequently tend to lack the ideal football mentality. at 22 and only playing organized football since his senior year of HS, you can only hope that he will develop more maturity and improve his football instincts. conventional wisdom says year 3 tends to be the big leap for WRs, so this is a big offseason for Mike. i think Jameis will be a catalyst in moving in the right direction, but will it be enough?
January 4th, 2016 at 11:47 am
Well, I commented here weeks ago that Evans isn’t that great – yet -, and some of you guys almost bit my head off. Now he seems to have an attitude problem as well. But this is a known problem among Buccaneers fans. Some of you guys just love to elevate players who probably wouldn’t even start in other teams to stardom, especially receivers, as if Evans was the second coming of Jerry Rice.
January 4th, 2016 at 11:52 am
Anyone been 21 and able to hold your opinion to yourself much? Much less keep emotions in check. Dude is barely out of puberty (not an insult.)
He and ASJ have some professional maturity to build upon… it will come.
Anyone have the play link which caused this to happen?
January 4th, 2016 at 11:55 am
I’m tired of everyone bagging on Winslow.
Here’s a stat: despite a balky knee and never practicing full-time, in three seasons, the guy NEVER missed a game. Not one.
Can you say that about any TE since him??
January 4th, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Aw did he hurt somebodies little ears.
January 4th, 2016 at 12:30 pm
Why doesn’t Lovie fix this?
January 4th, 2016 at 2:37 pm
We never got calls in the past either. I never feel bad when we get an obvious (but rare) bad call go our way. I feel like the NFL is about 20 seasons in debt of those calls to the Bucs, and their fans.
January 4th, 2016 at 3:28 pm
@Bonzai, Rrsrq, Bob, James
This has been happening all season, and honestly for multiple season. But this year has got be the absolute worst, inconsistent officiating I’ve seen in a while! Almost makes be want the scab refs back.
@BucTrooper, yea he was kind of a d!ck, but was also responsible for at least 60% of our passing offense. No way we win 10 games that year without him.
January 4th, 2016 at 3:57 pm
I’ve been saying for a while that the NFL just hates the Bucs. The officiating is so lopsided it’s truly offensive.
I don’t know if anyone has access to film of previous games, but I would love to start putting together a website showing clips of all the BS calls against us, and then showing the opposing team doing the same exact things and not being called. It happens almost every damn game, and has been for years.
I don’t have access to past game film, but would be more than happy to start putting together the clips on a website. We’ll call it NFLhatestheBucs.com – start blowing it up on twitter and such, eventually it will get some attention and people will see how much we get shafted. I know our franchise sucks right now, but the officiating still needs to be fair. We have to play against the refs and the other team every single week.
January 4th, 2016 at 4:14 pm
Joe,
Sort’a related, just wondered how the Bucs did on their chase to be the most penalized NFL team, ever, or whatever period of time you pick. Can we get an update?
January 4th, 2016 at 4:46 pm
Sorry but anyone who thinks the Bucs are “targeted” by the refs doesn’t watch much NFL football besides Bucs games. It’s not a Bucs thing, it’s a “The Refs are effing horrible” thing. You pretty much have no idea what you’re getting from game to game, or from one play to the next. Officiating sucks everywhere, not just for the Bucs.
Now, having watched a lot of non-Bucs football, I can assure you they are one of the least disciplined, most mentally weak teams in the league. Been that way pretty much since the Raheem days. Maybe they have a rep? Sure but they don’t do much to change it. Like having your diva WR get tossed for running his mouth at officials.
January 4th, 2016 at 5:17 pm
After just reading the Evans tossed bit in the Times I’m pushed farther into Evans corner. It was the last game, he should have chewed out the refs more. Maybe a lousy fine, big deal. The refs deserve to be tongue lashed. I agree, Evans is being interfered with on many of the tightly contested throws. I like Evans bad boy fight back demeanor. Yeah he hurts the team at times, but he remains one of the best Buc players. He will get better.
January 4th, 2016 at 5:30 pm
@bucrightoff
Spot on. I agree completely. The refs have done a poor job all around the league and not just with us.
And like you I acknowledge that teams get reps and we certainly have one..and not good…and then that’s just another hurdle.
We really can’t effect the first part…lots of ideas being floated like making NFL refs a full time year round job.
The second part however…having the refs against us…could be moderated somewhat if we stopped being such obnoxious crybabies. Me is THE WORST!
January 4th, 2016 at 6:22 pm
@bucrightoff
You must not have read my first comment:
“But this year has got be the absolute worst, inconsistent officiating I’ve seen in a while! Almost makes be want the scab refs back.”
It is terrible all around, and I’ve mentioned this on multiple threads this year. Despite that, the Bucs are still getting some of the worst calls. We get defensive pass interference called when the opposing WR throws one of our DBs to the ground in the end zone. And then get it called offensively when the opposing DBs are dragging down our WR or coming in and hitting early before the pass is there.
Let me be clear, I don’t like Evans whining or thinking he deserves a PI call every time a guy touches him. I just want it to be consistent. And if you don’t think the NFL doesn’t want certain teams and players to succeed more than others, and officiates them differently from others, then you’ve stuck your head in the sand. Of course this team is undisciplined and sloppy, it doesn’t mean you call penalties for actions that you don’t call on the other guys.
January 5th, 2016 at 12:01 am
Cry baby? People using a term like that for a player who shows some kind of emotion because Lovie doesn’t seem to be awake yet? I have yet to see Lovie argue for the sake of his players.
Evans got ejected yesterday simply because the referees don’t want to receive any more backlash after the Odell/Norman match. Remember the referees were being watched by the same Carolina team and fans.
I’ve seen A LOT worse players lash out their verbal assaults such as Brady and yet nothing happens to them. This was a personal attack on EVANS! In Caroline and Norman in the back..Hmmmm…coincidence?
I LOVE to see passion from my Bucs…I don’t see it on the sidelines! I just want to see Lovie fight for his players and not just stare at the air when there is a clear injustice being done on his players.
You go Evans! Your love of winning will make you one of the best!