Tampa Bay Times Plays High-Profile Guessing Game
November 15th, 2016
On the front page of today’s Tampa Bay Times sports section is a big giant picture of Mike Evans surrounded by a Rick Stroud column that guesses why Evans despises Donald Trump.
Don’t believe Joe? As Trump likes to say, “Believe it.”
For those just tuning in, Evans sat on the bench for the National Anthem on Sunday and said he will do it all season long unless Ashton Kutcher tells him he’s been punked and Trump didn’t really win the presidency.
Stroud tells us we need to understand Evans to maybe understand why he possibly protested an election result in a way that thrust him into a negative and potentially team-divisive spotlight.
So why did he do it? What is it about Evans, who said on Instagram during election day Tuesday that he didn’t vote, that he would allow himself to be delivered into a whirlwind of mostly negative reaction?
To understand the divide, much like the one in our nation after the election, it helps to know something about Evans, geographically, emotionally, biologically.
In summary, Stroud explains that Trump is a racist, a sexist and a sexual deviant, and since the Texas-raised Evans is a multi-racial guy who loves women and probably has experienced racism, therefore Evans doesn’t like Trump.
Oh, oh, and Stroud says Evans respects devoted military supporter Vincent Jackson, so Evans sitting for the National Anthem likely doesn’t go in the direction of servicemen.
Joe finds it comical that a newspaper’s decision-makers would find it front-page-feature-worthy to flat out guess why someone doesn’t like someone else.
Evans himself opted not to share his feelings. So Joe thinks it’s prudent to wait until Evans explains himself rather than guess his beliefs. That’s only fair.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:14 am
joe journalism has been dead in this country for two decades it’s all TMZ all the time whether is the DEAD traditional media outlets or even the new media. Journalism has zero integrity and has not been fact based in years. It’s more important to get a reaction and be first than being accurate.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:16 am
Joe, need to start a me13 trade possibility thread
Dont think glazers will let the GM to resign evans for a big contract if evans going to sit for the next 4/8 years
Best time would trade him this offseason
Would love dhop but doubt it. We might be able to trade for sterling shephard
November 15th, 2016 at 9:16 am
Evans is just a young man that’s confused and over emotional. Once he grows up a little he’ll understand how ill conceived this whole protest was. I just really worry it’s going to ruin his pro bowl chances now.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:19 am
who gives a rats ass about a meaningless pro bowl…
November 15th, 2016 at 9:20 am
Yikes, Rick Stroud went through a lot of effort with blatant distortions (distortions the TBT pushes with their agenda) to connect why Mike Evans sat. Given that Mike Evans is ignorant of politics and didn’t even bother to vote his reasons for sitting are likely far more simpler and less complex.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:22 am
Lol, pro bowl?
I have a better shot to be JBF poster of the year award
*tampa bay voters will be voting other wrs to make sure evans dont go..
You think bucfans going to like evans in a buc uniform sit during the anthem in orlando
Hell no
November 15th, 2016 at 9:24 am
Mike Evans has a daughter, and I have a daughter. I will never SUPPORT a man that brags about GROPING women. Then he call it locker room talk, locker room talk? You were 59 years old when you made the remarks, you’re just a OLD, SENILE,IMMATURE, SEXUAL PREDATOR.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:31 am
Don’t vote? Then don’t b*tch.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:32 am
Yes now we can get rid of the bust Winston and the commie socialist half-breed Evans in the next 2 years. Yes!!!!
It doesn’t get any better than being a Tampa resident and sports fans. Far and away the best fanbase in the galaxy.
And the TB media, best in the country. How did I get so lucky?
November 15th, 2016 at 9:32 am
Lookayear, The election is over. Trump is our president..for better or worse. Accept it. Yes, there are some things he will do that will be very controversial. But remember he can’t turn back the hands of time that much. The American people won’t let him. The pendulum of politics swing to the left and right. Democrats will get another shot in about 4 or 8 yrs. Nobody protested when Obama won. HE won the presidency gor 8 yrs..fair and square. So ruck up Democrats, you got lots more anguish a comin. As my man Frank Sinatra once said, That’s life!! As for Mr. Evans. Ok so you protested. Fine. Just remember what side of the bread your livelihood is buttered on!!
November 15th, 2016 at 9:33 am
Kobe Faker, I agree. Evans is worth trading if he continues to sit. Evans is worth 2 or 3 draft picks if Jason Licht wasn’t able to get a WR in a trade.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:34 am
Just as you use your website to as a tool to deliver personal views.. Newspapers can do the same thing. If you don’t like it. Don’t look at it. Close your eyes. I have a Bachelors in Political Science and an MBA. Those who say if you didn’t vote you can’t complain are just being stupid. Vote for who? The problem is the 2 party system and the rediculous way people try and squeeze themselves into 1 or the other when most people are ignorant of what the parties stand for. Which they aren’t all the different until you hit the far left and far right. Which is what has dominated our political thinking the last 20 years. Those at each have hijacked the issues which really aren’t issues at all.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:38 am
Watch the next home game vs sea
Everyone with eyes will be locating number 13
Fans will boo and walk out
Rj is half empty now, glazers will not extend him
November 15th, 2016 at 9:39 am
I bet Evans doesn’t B**ch about the tax breaks he will get..
I bet he doesn’t send extra money to the Government and tell them to keep HIS money…
November 15th, 2016 at 9:43 am
Way to go Stroud. Evans is a complete moron so you jump on the bandwagon.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:43 am
Whatever the reason, it just shows how ignorant he is. I love my Bucs and I love NFL but these guys who want to bring there political views into the NFL is getting old. He has the right to do it sure, but I have the right to tell Evans he is a disgrace, and him sitting during the national anthem is disgraceful to our country and the men and women who died for it. Shame on you Mike Evans!!! I will never cheer for you again. Good luck getting your agenda accomplished whatever it is because all your doing is making yourself look like a d%$# fool.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:52 am
Outrageous that a mike doesn’t support trump or his alt-right white supremacist agenda and staff. He needs to be lynched, don’t you agree? Of course you do!
November 15th, 2016 at 9:54 am
maybe i missed mike saying something to the contrary, but i would assume that this is a one-time post-election thing and not something he plans to do for the entirety of the presidency. on to Kansas City
November 15th, 2016 at 9:55 am
I am a life long Bucs fan. Donald Trump is dangerous. He has already chosen as his VP a devout homophobe whom the NCAA had to rebuke last year to stop him from enacting his reactionary and discriminatory policies. For his transition team he has chosen a climate change denier and the architect of a Stalin-esque public law – Arizona’s SB 1070 or the “Papers Please” bill. Additionally, he has sought high level security clearances for his children – none of whom have foreign service, governmental service, or international relations experience. This is a perilous time for our democracy and I commend Mike Evans for using this notoriety and status to voice his opposition to what is shaping up to be a corrosive and oppressive regime. The last jersey I purchased was a Derrick Brooks 55 Jersey in 2000. At 38, I feel I am too old to buy jerseys – just a personal preference. Later today I’ll buy a Mike Evans jersey.
I also commend Rick Stroud and the Tampa Bay Times. I have lived all over the country and am a support of ProPublica – you should know the Tampa Bay Times has garnered a reputation of being an excellent paper and shining example of one of the cornerstones of our democracy – a free and independent press.
And for those of you who want to trade him – get real. He is the absolute best player on team – second only to Jameis, and even that is debatable. Maybe if you really love this team, you should put aside your gut level reactions and understand that what Mike Evans is doing is an example and exercise of that most basic and fundamental American value and constitutionally protected right – the right to dissent.
Perhaps you should listen to what the young man has to say. Try to understand why, as the bi-racial son of a single mother and the victim of gun violence and the father of young daughter – he may be concerned about what Donald Trump’s electoral college victory means for this country.
Thank you for reading. And to the Joes, thank you for this forum – as the Commish advises I check it multiple times a day for your insight and analysis and though I may not agree with your everything you say. I certainly respect you opinion.
Go Bucs.
November 15th, 2016 at 9:57 am
Tempest in a teapot…..Bucs figure out how to win at Arrowhead Sunday, and all this hot air will be ancient history. ME13 needs to start voting. It’s easy and a lot less physical effort than his sit down protest. Now, back to football, okay Joe????????!!!!!! 🙂
November 15th, 2016 at 9:59 am
If you don’t see why Trump is a disgrace to the highest office in the land then you’re part of the problem. If you voted for him, you’re about to experience yuuuuge buyers remorse. He’s a con man of the highest ilk, he sold you a bill of goods he can’t deliver on, no wall, no immigration reform, no infrastructure rebuild, no rounding up of illegals to be warehoused then deported, he’s gonna make himself richer while we all get poorer, enjoy the ride you paid for it….
November 15th, 2016 at 10:01 am
This all begs the question…
Are we idiots because we’re Bucs fans or are we Bucs fans because we’re idiots?
November 15th, 2016 at 10:03 am
These posts are amazing, hating the guy because he has a view contrary to most people taking time to post.
Suppose Hillary won and Evans sat to protest her being a criminal. You would all be lauding him for “sitting” on his principles !!!!
Think about it hypocrites. You are attacking him for his political view not his actions. You can’t stand that the BUCS best WR would have a different political view and voice it, so you are posting hate on the internet.
November 15th, 2016 at 10:08 am
“I love money” me13
At our home game vs sea, I will sing the national anthem
November 15th, 2016 at 10:09 am
Those watching the game from home, did you all stand during the singing of the anthem or did you just keep pouring
November 15th, 2016 at 10:19 am
Not surprising at all. Typical TBT and main stream media talking points. Got to keep that narrative going at the cost of their integrity.
November 15th, 2016 at 10:20 am
Being a Active member in the Army and being a black man a lot of y’all commenting can’t relate with this young man. You really don’t care to either as long as he is scoring touchdowns. Being African American and poor with all the adversity he had to deal with ME13 is a great young man. NONE OF YALL DO NOT UNDERSTAND this man if you are attacking him in the way you are. I don’t agree with him not voting and that’s it. Like many millennials he is misguided with the voting aspect of the importance of it. I don’t agree with about Trump. If you voted for him you should take a LOOONNNNGGG look in the mirror at yourself and not ME13. The way he drove hate through his election to win is unacceptable, and I hope y’all don’t have daughters. Back off ME13, and get over it.
November 15th, 2016 at 10:29 am
I think it is a very well written article. It is basically saying step out of your world view and attempt to view it from another. In this case Mike’s. The exit polls are what the are. 81% evangelical and 58% white is what took Trump to victory. This election was won in white church pulpits and by stirring up white nationalism (See Steve Bannon) and evangelical concerns (LGBT and abortion). I am pasty as the driven snow and it freaks me out. I could only imagine how I would feel if I were a minority, a woman or if I had walked in Mike’s shoes.
Why would anyone paying attention believe an exit poll is accurate in 2016?–Joe
November 15th, 2016 at 10:34 am
Typical distortions, which ironically helped Mr. Trump become the President.
Yet another example of the pathetic local hack media we have always had in this town.
Picture this. A white NFL player refuses to stand for the National Anthem because Obama was elected………..
I wonder which one would be labeled a racist?
November 15th, 2016 at 10:38 am
If the NFL doesn’t stop these protests while their employees are working, then the fans, not in the stands, will. Owners are not going to pay these player’s salary when only angry libs show up to the game. Poor choices in life have consequences.
November 15th, 2016 at 10:44 am
I have a few questions for those of you supporting Evans.
1. If an individual has the right and availability to vote and chooses not to, why do they have the right to protest the legal results of the election?
2. Why is it OK to disrespect our country by sitting on your butt during our national anthem as a form of protests?
3. Why is this younger generation so self entitled, believing that if they do not get their way on everything it is OK to act out in protests and riots?
4. Why do some of you put the Bucs or football above your country?
I of course have my own answers to those questions and I am no longer a Mike Evans supporter. I hope he fails miserably in his career that I as a veteran fought to help him enjoy. I do not wish him physical harm like a broken leg or anything, but he is just another one of the results of this younger generation that do not answer to or respect authority, do not respect their country and basically have a me first attitude about everything.
Trump may turn out to be a horrible president but it is far too early to know. He may become a great president. Regardless, if you are an American and plan on remaining an American, then his is in fact your President Elect as much as he is mine.
People want to blow out of proportion some stupid, tasteless comments that Trump made in his past. OK, well at least he has to committed any criminal activities like the Clinton clan. I met Bill Clinton twice while in Bosnia in 1996 and I witnessed the corruption as Dick Chaney who was benefiting form the contract with the company Brown and Root to construct and maintain all of the infrastructure for the military operations at that time.
You see, many of you really do not realize how corrupt the career politicians have been including the Clinton clan. You just believe what you see on political adds….sad. Also, if Trump did not pay taxes and used loop holes not to pay for 20 years all within the confines of the federal tax codes, then who cares. He broke no laws. Clinton however, both of them, have broken laws but as they are most assuredly part of the secret societies that truly run the country, they will continue to flourish.
To summarize, a little bit of patriotism is not too much to ask for from out team when the National Anthem is playing. If Evans wants to sit on the bench for that, then keep him on the bench for the remainder of each game that he pulls that stunt. He DID NOT VOTE, SO HE FORFEITS HIS RIGHT TO B**TCH.
November 15th, 2016 at 10:45 am
It’s obvious why people don’t like Trump. History will know him as the divider.
United we stand, divided we fall.
November 15th, 2016 at 10:46 am
@Joe
That is a very fair point. However, should we abandon all empirical data? Should we not make our decisions on the best data available? Is there better data to look at?
November 15th, 2016 at 10:46 am
Looking to buy:
Used Mike Evans jersey.
November 15th, 2016 at 10:52 am
@Joe
It is also worth pointing out that exit polls are not done the same way as typical polls. Typical polls are done through phone banking. With cell phones and VOIP that has caused major problems. Exit polls are done in person at the polling station. I hear ya though, it does cause concern.
November 15th, 2016 at 11:02 am
Let me preface this with I am the father of inter-racial children.
1. If an individual has the right and availability to vote and chooses not to, why do they have the right to protest the legal results of the election?
Maybe they are protesting by not voting, many times the people running do not reflect them or their views.
2. Why is it OK to disrespect our country by sitting on your butt during our national anthem as a form of protests?
Maybe he feels his country is disrespecting him and others like him, my son feels the very same way, I wish you could actually see up close the police harassment a young black man experiences throughout their lives in this country. You may interact with the police one or twice in your life, a traffic ticket or such, my son has been stopped in our upper-middle class neighbor for walking down the street going to playing basketball, he has been pulled over because he was driving my beamer and asked where he found the car? How would you feel if this was a daily occurrence in your life?
3. Why is this younger generation so self entitled, believing that if they do not get their way on everything it is OK to act out in protests and riots?
On this I agree with you, this goes back to trophies for just showing up.
4. Why do some of you put the Bucs or football above your country?
Because most people are patriotic until it interferes with their life.
November 15th, 2016 at 11:17 am
@Joe
If you do not care to look at exit polls, I will make my point about white nationalism using another method.
@dee
“I think all black men should quit playing football and go play for the NBA let the whites have the NFL. There you go problem solved.”
Nonsense like this had no place on a fine digital publication such as these here interwebs just a year ago. On November 15, 2016…well..
November 15th, 2016 at 11:21 am
@flmike
Thank you sir for your rational response. Yo do bring up some valid possibilities.
I am sorry for your Son’s struggles as well as anyone who is different looking than others. I am sick of racial hate. Because I served next to men and women of various races, we used to say none of us are white, black, yellow or red. We are one race and that is the human race. Now for my own beliefs, we were created by the same GOD in his image and are all equal in his eyes. That is not meant to offend anyone who does not believe in GOD, but I do and that is my view on race. God Bless America and Go Bucs!!! Let us please unite instead of be so divided.
November 15th, 2016 at 11:37 am
Exit polls and polls in general aren’t accurate. The polls assume that the pollee, if that’s a word, is being honest. The election polls were wrong because people who were going to vote for Trump weren’t going to admit it. If there is one good thing to come out if this election, it’s that I definitely wasn’t rigged. No one in Washington REALLY wanted Trump to win. I would bet that most of the top GOP players were hoping for a Trump loss so they could get in the ring for 2020. That’s now out of the window and the Democrats will probably take the White House back and hold it till at least 2028. The Democrats should be glad that Trump won. They don’t have to have Hillary against a GOP controlled congress, and Trump has been a leftist his whole life. He will get a leftist agenda through the GOP congress because he is a RINO, and then the Democrats can really push through moe sociolist control in the 8 years after Trump loses the next election. If I was a socialist I would be thrilled. A Clinton presidency would most likely have been followed by a Rubio nod. What played out was a loss for the GOP. Won the battle, lost the war, IMO.
November 15th, 2016 at 11:49 am
I cannot support the Buccaneers organization with my money…. I cannot purchase tickets, nor will I purchase any merchandise until this moron gets his head screwed back on and gets an education on the President elect.
Everything he stands on, every alleged character flaw of Mr. Trump Evans claims are nothing more than the lies perpetrated by the biased Leftist media how went overboard trying to hand deliver this election to Hillary…. None of Mikes beliefs are creditable… They are all false accusations….. So if the Buccaneer organization wants to suffer the consequences of Mike Evans childish actions, then so be it…. I know as a business owner myself that the Glazers have a right to dictate how their employees will behave themselves and if they are unable to manage this situation I will cease from offering any support whatsoever…. Mike Evans is an immature little jerk!
November 15th, 2016 at 1:37 pm
Had little to no respect for Sap Stroud to begin with, but now None at all. Trump appoints a woman, a black man, and a gay man to positions on his team, yet he’s sexist, racist, and a deviant? Stroud must’ve taken one look at Melania and had buyers remorse on his own woman.
November 15th, 2016 at 2:57 pm
If Evans had a brain in his head he would realize that Trump wants to eliminate the DEATH TAX. That’s GOOD for multimillionaires like him.
Trump wants to cut taxes… under Hillary, the Federal tax on him would be 39.5%. Now, it’s still 35%.
He’s just a mouthy millennial.
November 15th, 2016 at 3:58 pm
^^Some people who are rich don’t mind paying higher taxes because, ya know, they’re rich.
Those are also the only people benefitting from Trump’s tax plan. 50% – 75% of the benefits all go to the top 1%. Hmmm, sound familiar?
Buc4Lyfe, none of those people have been appointed to anything. If the female you’re referencing was Palin, well that would be an epic disaster itself. And Ben Carson already said he wouldn’t take a cabinet job b/c he doesn’t have the experience to run a federal agency (but yet wanted to be President of the United States. WTF?)
November 15th, 2016 at 4:34 pm
You people crack me up….you want to trade a top 5 WR in the league because he’s justifiably upset that a person (I refuse to call Trump a man, because a real man doesn’t conduct himself like that) mocked the disabled, discredited a fallen solider’s family and has used blatantly racist and xenophobic rhetoric for over a year, and this country rewards it by making this fool President? I was all for the protest until it came out that he didn’t vote. Come on man….you cant complain if you don’t vote. I don’t care if he sits or stands, you dont trade your best player!!
November 15th, 2016 at 6:25 pm
I can guess too. Probably because he has been in a typical black family that has been sold a bill of goods by the Democrats for the past 50 years.
Plus the ridiculous reporting by the so-called media during this election
November 15th, 2016 at 8:14 pm
@ Joe
You could’ve just gone to any Trump rally to believe the exit polls. I’ve never seen so many white evangelical folk congregae together at any time outside of a NASCAR event
November 15th, 2016 at 11:14 pm
Evans is the generation that believe that some false activism is waranted because the last 10 plus yrs of media has been directed towards creating racial bias. The media force fed lie after lie in order to try and push an agenda and it failed miserably. The same media is now going to try and create divide. The nation needs to wake up!
If racism is so prevent in America how did an African American win 2 terms. Just break down the statistics. The majority that voted for Obummer were white. So STFUAGA with this non-sense! I don’t necessarily think Evans is a bad guy just very niev.
November 15th, 2016 at 11:56 pm
Dumbasses discussing politics and football in the same breath are the real shame. I don’t give a rip about who sits or stands, I want wins.
Any of you idiots who want to trade players because of politics deserve to be Browns fans.
Shame on Joe for bringing this crap into here, just like the Times did.