The most reliable wide receiver in the NFL is not the loudest or most exposed name in the league. That title is given to many by Mike Evans, who, since joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014, has recorded at least 1,000 receiving yards every season. The 32-year-old player in NFL history who has reached the mark of 1,000 receiving yards in each of the first 11 seasons of his career.
That tied him with the legendary Jerry Rice for the most consecutive seasons with the same score, although Rice’s streak was accomplished between 1986 and 1996, starting in his second season in the league.
During his career, Evens was selected to the Pro Bowl six times, won Super Bowl LV with Tampa, and also holds several club records, including the most touchdowns (106), receiving yards (12,684), and passes caught (836) in Buccaneers history.
In the previous season, he also surpassed Randy Moss for the number of seasons with at least 1,000 yards, so he is now second on the all-time list, behind Rice, who has 14. If Even maintains the same continuity in the 2025 season, he could break the record for the number of consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and get even closer to Rice’s overall record.
Even off the field, Evans has a calm and stable character. During the break between seasons, he trains his eldest daughter’s basketball team. He is a big Harry Potter fan, and when it comes to training and preparations for the season, he approaches them seriously, disciplinedly, and without much fanfare.
At the beginning of his career, Mike Evans admits that during the off-season, he did not train as much as he should have. Today, his approach is much more disciplined. As soon as he returns home to Texas, he immediately resumes his preparations. He built a soccer field in the yard, where he trains with high school and university players, working with a coach he has been working with for 10 years.
Training with younger athletes gives him a boost. They constantly push him to work even harder; in them, he sees himself from his childhood, when he was at the beginning of his journey and faced similar challenges.
When Evans is not on the field, he allows his coach to use it to work with the younger players, although his preparations during the break are very intense.
After more than a decade in the NFL, he realized that daily commitment is the key to success – discipline and consistency, he says, are simple in theory but demanding in practice. His day usually starts around six in the morning. Then he goes out on the field and devotes the next hour and a half to two hours to exercises that develop speed, explosiveness, and precise footwork.
Sprints with resistance bands are also part of the workout: ten 30-yard sprints with the band, then another ten without it. When working on specific movements from American football, including quick changes of direction, he also uses the VertiMax device, which additionally increases resistance during movement.
After working in the field, there is strength training that lasts about an hour. While studying at Texas A&M University, the workouts kept the heavy loads, but today, Evans relies more on lighter weights and higher repetitions. Upper body training usually includes dumbbell incline presses, hammer curls, pull-ups, and shoulder presses.
When the focus is on the lower body, he first does back exercises like the Romanian deadlift with dumbbells, followed by squats with weights up to about 225 pounds, lunges, and calf raises. Although he thinks that his leaves may not look pronounced, he emphasizes that they are extremely strong.
He pays close attention to exercises to strengthen his trunk. He especially likes “bicycle crunches,” an exercise he used to do often during his time at Texas A&, when the players performed them at the end of practice. In addition, he regularly performs different plank variations to improve stability and body control.
After strength training, Mike pays close attention to recovery. He tries to use as many methods as possible to help the body regain strength as quickly as possible after strenuous training. His routine includes targeted cryotherapy, massages, stretching, and other regenerating treatments.
He recently introduced a combination of staying in a sauna and a cold bath, which especially helps him relax his muscles and recover faster. That part of the routine isn’t always taken seriously, though – he often plays video games while attached to a Game Ready machine for compression therapy.
When it comes to nutrition, Evans has personal chefs in his native Galveston and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His habits are quite simple; he is not picky and prefers meals rich in protein. He often chooses seafood with vegetables, as well as Caesar salad. He doesn’t drink coffee and almost always relies on water.
Outside of classic training, Evan loves boxing, which he has been doing for about seven years. He practices this sport at least twice a week because he believes it is great for fitness and mental endurance. In addition, he swims in the pool, doing sprints while his children play nearby.
During the season, he does similar exercises in the special HydroWorx pool at the Buccaneers training center. He says that such training gives him a feeling of strength and energy, without the excessive fatigue that usually accompanies intense running.
However, there is one type of training that does not suit him at all, pilates. A few years ago, he tried taking classes but quickly realized that specific positions were too challenging for him. He jokingly admits that flexibility is simply not his forte.
