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Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff Writer
Just as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wrapped up the first of three practices this week at Tulane University in New Orleans, where they evacuated to in advance of Hurricane Milton, conditions some 685 miles back home began to rapidly deteriorate Wednesday.
The area is seeing its first direct hit from a major hurricane since 1921, and that wasn’t lost on players and coaches.
“A lot of prayer, a lot of prayer,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said in a video call with reporters.
Added wide receiver Mike Evans: “We’re not even just playing for just football now. We’re trying to play for something a little bit bigger.”
Ten days ago, Hurricane Helene swiped the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm, forcing Mayfield and others living in coastal areas to evacuate. The worst of the impact was felt in Florida’s Big Bend region, some 200 miles north of Tampa, but it still left piles of broken furniture and other debris in places such as Pinellas and Manatee counties.
Much of that debris remained roadside Wednesday as Milton neared landfall and prepared to slice through one of the most densely populated areas of the state as a Category 3 storm — somewhere between the mouth of Tampa Bay and Siesta Key, where some 3 million people call home.
“I just want everybody to be safe,” said Evans, who evacuated with his wife and family. “At the end of the day, we obviously have a job to do, so we’re going to do that. The games are going to be played, but that’s the hardest thing — just making sure that everybody is good and just praying and hoping for the best. So that’s the toughest part, but I just try to stay locked in. I got to be ready.”
Like Evans, cornerback Zyon McCollum grew up in Galveston, Texas, and is no stranger to hurricanes. He pleaded with residents to heed evacuation orders. Some areas were expected to see winds up to 120 mph when the storm made landfall at around 9 p.m. ET, while up to 12 feet of storm surge was expected, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Mother Nature is not one to be played with,” McCollum said. “The flooding will probably be the biggest thing that I’ve been trying to tell people. It’s not necessarily the rain and everything itself, but the surge is what’s the most important. So just making sure that everybody’s families are in the right place. If you’re in an evacuation zone, please, please, please evacuate.”
Mayfield said he has been doing his best to compartmentalize, having done everything he could to ensure his family’s safety with another evacuation, and to secure their family’s home. Just last week, before an overtime heartbreaker in Atlanta on Thursday night, he and Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins came together to donate $100,000 to Helene relief efforts. Now he’ll return to a community in need of even more help.
“This could be a sort of Sunday to give the people of Florida, especially around our area, some hope and something to look forward to watching,” Mayfield said before quickly correcting himself, as many won’t be able to watch. “You know, [I’m] not expecting anyone to really have power, but finding out in the days later.”
Coach Todd Bowles said the team is researching contingency options should Tampa be unsafe to travel to after Sunday’s game. The Bucs are set to host the Ravens on Oct. 21.
“We are talking about it,” Bowles said. “We hope we don’t have to, [but] we will see what happens the next couple of days and then we will adjust accordingly.”