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Bucs' Mike Evans gives the gift of perspective

 
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans, center, plays ball toss with Sulphur Springs Community School fifth graders Jean Alvarez, 10, Damien Hill, 12, Kumari Garrett, 11, Bendy Duverion, 10, and Abrianna Earnest, 10, (from left) at One Buc Place on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. Evans and his wife Ashli have started a foundation with several purposes. One of them is to help high school students from at-risk situations get to college. Today, Evans played games and gave Christmas gifts to the students during a surprise party at the Buccaneers' facility. ALESSANDRA DA PRA   |   Times
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans, center, plays ball toss with Sulphur Springs Community School fifth graders Jean Alvarez, 10, Damien Hill, 12, Kumari Garrett, 11, Bendy Duverion, 10, and Abrianna Earnest, 10, (from left) at One Buc Place on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. Evans and his wife Ashli have started a foundation with several purposes. One of them is to help high school students from at-risk situations get to college. Today, Evans played games and gave Christmas gifts to the students during a surprise party at the Buccaneers' facility. ALESSANDRA DA PRA | Times
Published Dec. 13, 2017

TAMPA — So, this is Christmas.

The Bucs are having an awful season. There is no way around it. Star receiver Mike Evans isn't having a great year, either, not nearly as many catches or touchdowns as last season, when he was selected for the Pro Bowl.

So, this is Christmas.

So, Evans and his wife, Ashli, with their 1-year-old daughter, threw a Christmas party for 13 (Evans' Bucs number) soaring fifth-graders at One Buccaneer Place on Wednesday, complete with snacks, games —and surprise gifts. It could have melted a hundred grinches.

"Obviously, I'm a competitor," Evans said. "I want to be the best I can be and for this team to have success. But just because it isn't happening, my life doesn't stop. Life never stops."

It was all part of a three-day launch of the Mike Evans Family Foundation, which Evans and his wife has been working on since soon after he made it big in the NFL. He is a rock-ribbed member of this community.

Monday, there was a fundraiser at a Tampa Restaurant, featuring Evans' teammates Jameis Winston, DeSean Jackson and Charles Sims, among others. Tuesday included the Evans family visiting The Spring of Tampa Bay, a shelter for abused women and their families.

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Both Evans and his wife witnessed domestic violence while growing up in Texas, him in Galveston and her in Houston. Their mothers were subjected to abuse. In Evans' case, the spiral of violence led to the Evans' father being shot and stabbed to death by Evans' uncle.

"My wife and I just want to help," Evans said. "We know how it is. We've seen it."

"We both went through it," Ashli said.

"Mike was everything you could imagine," said Mindy Murphy, president and CEO of The Spring. "Here's this big guy towering over these kids, but there wasn't a kid there afraid of him. The followed him around like he was the Pied Piper."

"It's not how you start, even with a rough upbringing," Evans said. "It's what you make of it after."

Wednesday was filled with surprises. The visitors were students from Sulphur Springs Community School. They were chosen for their academic excellence. They gathered on stage in the auditorium at Once Buc. Evans slipped in behind them. Fifth-grader Kumari Garrett was startled by No. 13 in his jersey, then overjoyed.

"My heart hurts," Kumari told a teacher.

There were games on the edge of the Bucs' practice fields. Evans, a father of two, helped fifth-grader Adrianna Earnest at bag toss.

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"He kept encouraging me," Adrianna said.

For a few moments, forgotten was this disappointing Bucs season. Where was the disappointment on those children's faces?

And, of course, the presents. One last surprise. A room set up with a tree with bags of wrapped gifts under it.

"Go for it," Mike Evans told them,

They went for it.

"My mom worked three jobs," Evans said. "She was a hospital clerk. But we always had the best Christmas and holidays. I like to help as many people as I can in the holidays. She instilled that in me."

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"Seeing them get everything the wanted, that just made me the happiest person," Ashli said.

Adrianna Earnest got a sing-along machine and everything else on her list. Ariah Evans, who has been walking for four weeks, isn't up to post patterns just yet, but she can poke around present wrappings like a veteran. Her father the receiver scooped Ariah up — sweet grab — and buried his face in her tummy. Ariah giggled in her father's arms.

The Bucs are having an awful season. Kumari Garrett stood holding his gift bag and waited to go to the bus and back to school. He couldn't stop smiling. His heart still hurt.

"Mine does, too," Mike Evans said.

So, this is Christmas.

Contact Martin Fennelly at mfennelly@tampabay.com or (813) 731-8029. Follow @mjfennelly