By Brandon C. Williams
The Post Newspaper Editor
Galveston County celebrated the success of one of its own as Galveston Ball alum Mike Evans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers thrashed the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 to win Super Bowl 55 on Sunday.
Evans had just one reception for 31 yards, but his presence also led to a pair of pass interference calls that helped set up Buccaneers touchdowns, including Antonio Brown’s game-altering score near the end of the first half that gave Tampa Bay a 21-6 halftime lead.
“It’s one of the best feelings in the world,” said the well-suited Evans during the postgame press conference. “You work all year for this…you work your whole life for this (because) I’ve been playing football for a long time. You want to win the big game. It took a lot of hard work, but we got it done.”
While Evans wasn’t a big part of the Bucs’ passing game, his run blocking helped fuel a ground game that totaled 147 yards.
Sunday’s win capped off Evans’ seventh season in the league, one in which he caught 70 passes for 1,006 yards and 13 touchdowns, making him the first player in NFL history to record at least 1,000 yards in each of his first seven years. He added 11 receptions for 204 yards and a pair of scores during the playoffs.
While there is plenty of time to bask in the glory of winning his first Super Bowl, Evans made it clear he doesn’t want the moment to be a one-time event.
“I want this feeling again,” he said. “We’re going to turn it up a little while and get back at it to start working again.”
The City of Galveston has not yet announced if they would have a social-distanced event to honor Evans at some point in the offseason.
Evans was the 16th player in the history of the Super Bowl to represent Galveston County.
