Bucs receivers share 'My favorite catch'

To our readers: Mike Evans' 2016 NFL Catch of the Year and the big Bucs' offseason catches — DeSean Jackson, O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin — inspired us to mark the start of the 2017 season with a series of stories celebrating "The Catch." We hope you enjoy them.

The best catch of a receiver's career is a matter of opinion. But his favorite? That's personal.

We asked some Bucs receivers to share their favorite catch. Here are their responses:

AP Photo/Doug Benc

Chris Godwin (12) catches a touchdown pass over USC's Adoree' Jackson (2) during Penn State's 52-49 loss in the Rose Bowl on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017 in Pasadena, Calif.

AP Photo/Doug Benc

Chris Godwin (12) catches a touchdown pass over USC's Adoree' Jackson (2) during Penn State's 52-49 loss in the Rose Bowl on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017 in Pasadena, Calif.

CHRIS GODWIN: 'The eraser'

"Wow. I think a couple of my catches in the Rose Bowl would have to be my favorite," said Godwin, a rookie from Penn State, unable to choose one from last season's game.

Go back to Penn State's 52-49 loss to USC and it's easy to understand why: Godwin had nine catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns for the Nittany Lions.

Among the front-runners, though, are a 30-yard touchdown off a quarterback scramble that saw Godwin contort his body to get his foot down in the corner of the end zone. There's a circus catch on a crossing route where the pass is well behind him and he reaches a single hand out and pulls it back in. Then there's a 72-yard touchdown where he goes up with a USC defensive back and catches the ball as it bounces off them, then goes untouched the rest of the way.

"The way I see catches, a big-time catch is just me doing whatever I can to help my team," he said. "Those are plays that put us in a pretty good position. You do what you can as a receiver to get open, and wherever the quarterback puts the ball, it's your job to go and make the play. If for some reason it's misplaced, you've got to be the eraser."

— Greg Auman

MIKE EVANS: 'Moss-ing the dude'

His one-handed grab against Atlanta in 2016 was named the NFL's play of the year. But for degree of difficulty and its impact on a season, Evans said the best catch he ever made was in 2012, his redshirt freshman year at Texas A&M.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Mike Evans (13) catches a pass over Senquez Golson of Ole Miss during a game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 6, 2012 in Oxford, Mississippi.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Mike Evans (13) catches a pass over Senquez Golson of Ole Miss during a game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 6, 2012 in Oxford, Mississippi.

Two plays earlier, Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel somehow avoided a sack for a safety that likely would have clinched a victory for Ole Miss. Texas A&M trailed 27-17 in the fourth quarter and faced third and 19 on its 3-yard line. But Manziel always had great confidence in Evans and his ability to catch jump balls.

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Manziel's high-arching pass in Evans' direction near the right sideline was underthrown. The 6-foot-5 wide receiver stretched both hands over Ole Miss defensive back Senquez Golson and made the catch, coming down with his feet in bounds for a 32-yard gain.

"Johnny threw me a jump ball," said Evans, whose catch set up a Manziel touchdown run and helped spur A&M's 30-27 victory. "We were down and losing the game, and I ended up Moss-ing the dude for a first down and we go down and score, get the ball again and score, and win the game. So we ended up in the top five in the country that year. It was third and 19. He trusted me, and I Mossed him."

Evans, of course, is referring to his idol, former Vikings receiver Randy Moss.

Rick Stroud

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Alabama's O.J. Howard catches a touchdown pass during the second half of the College Football Playoff championship game against Clemson Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Alabama's O.J. Howard catches a touchdown pass during the second half of the College Football Playoff championship game against Clemson Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz.

O.J. HOWARD: 'Y Witch'

Roger Mooney

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Adam Humphries (11) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers catches a pass during a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on September 3, 2015 in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Adam Humphries (11) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers catches a pass during a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on September 3, 2015 in Miami Gardens, Fla.

ADAM HUMPHRIES: 'It got me a job'

He was tempted to go with the wild 42-yard touchdown pass he caught at Dallas last season, bouncing off the hands of cornerback Brandon Carr into Humphries' in the end zone.

But instead Humphries chose a catch you likely remember less: Sept. 3, 2015, at Miami, the final game of the 2015 preseason his rookie year.

"I was fighting for a spot, and I ran a two-man beater seam and Mike Glennon put it on the money," Humphries said of the 20-yard catch on third and 6. "I reached up and grabbed it, and it was one of the plays that solidified me making the 53-man cut. So in my mind that's one of the most important catches I've had. If I don't make that, they're like 'Maybe we should go with Rannell Hall.' "

Humphries, who came to the Bucs as an undrafted tryout player out of Clemson, would catch a 4-yard touchdown on the next drive and finish with 62 yards on four catches. He has 82 receptions in two seasons since, but without that one, it's all uncertain.

"It was like, 'I have to catch everything. I have to have a good game,' " he said. "Catching that, I was like 'That might be the one.' I'll never forget that catch. That got me a job, and that's meant the world to me."

— Greg Auman

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Cameron Brate (84) catches a touchdown pass over Desmond Trufant (21) and Ricardo Allen (37) of the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on November 1, 2015 in Atlanta, Ga.

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Cameron Brate (84) catches a touchdown pass over Desmond Trufant (21) and Ricardo Allen (37) of the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on November 1, 2015 in Atlanta, Ga.

CAMERON BRATE: 'Forgot to cover me'

He finally found the end zone during the second quarter of his fifth NFL game. He ran a seam route. He was wide open.

"They kind of forgot to cover me," Brate said. "Sometimes those are the hardest."

The 20-yard touchdown pass from Jameis Winston with 35 seconds left in the half gave the Bucs a 13-3 lead in a game they would win 23-20 in overtime. That moment on Nov. 1, 2015, in Atlanta is Brate's favorite catch all time — high school, college, pro.

"It took a long time," he said. "It took about a year and a half of playing in the league. I got cut three times before that, twice by the Bucs, actually. So to finally have a big play for us against Atlanta in the Georgia Dome was great."

Brate had three receptions to his name before that play, including a 28-yarder earlier in the quarter. He lined up to the right of Winston and headed straight for the end zone at the snap. Winston looked to his left, then back to Brate. The pass was pinpoint, and the undrafted tight end out of Harvard made the catch between safety Ricardo Allen and cornerback Desmond Trufant.

Brate had one thought: Don't drop it.

"It seemed like the ball was in the air forever," he said. "Luckily I was able to hold on."

— Roger Mooney

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson makes a touchdown reception as Arizona Cardinals defensive back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie defends during the second half of the NFL NFC championship football game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson makes a touchdown reception as Arizona Cardinals defensive back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie defends during the second half of the NFL NFC championship football game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz.

DESEAN JACKSON: Walking backward into the end zone

A career of big catches led Jackson to Tampa. His favorite almost brought him here eight years earlier.

The catch Jackson considers his greatest looked like it would send he and the Eagles to Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium.

Philadelphia trailed Arizona early in the fourth during the 2008 NFC Championship Game when Donovan McNabb launched a bomb in Jackson's direction.

Jackson, then a rookie second-round pick out of Cal, was well covered by cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who tipped the pass. Jackson bobbled it four times before securing it on his face mask, spinning 360 degrees and walking backward into the end zone for a 62-yard reception.

The Eagles missed the extra point and led 25-24 with 11 minutes left.

"Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was guarding me, and Donovan dropped back and threw it about as far as he could," Jackson said.

"It wasn't just a perfect catch. He tipped it, and I tipped it, tipped it and tipped it, and that was the concentration I had. Everything played into it, and it was a big game and a big catch."

Unfortunately, another receiver had a bigger game and bigger catches. Larry Fitzgerald had touchdown catches on three of Arizona's first four possessions — and three catches on the winning drive that sent the Cardinals to Tampa to face the Steelers.

— Rick Stroud