When someone has a one-on-one exchange with Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht for the first time, it is usually memorable. During a press conference for star wide receiver Mike Evans– who signed a two-year $52 million contract extension early in the week– Licht entertained the media by recalling where he was when the deal became official.
“GM Jason Licht said he was at a charity event hosted by {Tampa Bay Lightning head coach} Jon Cooper where he was having a conversation with Wayne Gretzky,” the Pewter Report relayed on X. “That’s when he got the call that the deal with Evans got done. Gretzky was the first to find out from Licht. Gretzky replies ‘He’s a great one.' The great one calling Mike Evans the great one. Game recognize game.”
One has to hope that Gretzky, a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Edmonton Oilers and hockey's all-time leading points scorer, naturally stumbled into this coincidental phrasing and did not aim to make a joke. Surely, the greatest player ever would have other material to draw from rather than a joke he has probably heard ad nauseam for decades in some variation or another.
In any case, Gretzky being the first person other than Evans' family, agent or Licht to know about this big re-signing is pretty nuts. Though, the craziest part of the whole story is that the GM did not even know he was talking to the legend at first.
Buccaneers' Jason Licht might not be a huge hockey fan
“I was talking to Wayne Gretzky without knowing I was talking to Wayne Gretzky,” Licht said, per NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano. That is the type of serendipity that perfectly fits one of the head shot-callers of the Buccaneers. Applying rationale and logic to this franchise did not work for many NFL fans last season, as Baker Mayfield and company went all the way to the NFC Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Tampa Bay will carry with it the label of “lucky” or “fluke” going into next season as far as some people are concerned, but the pieces are there to achieve another successful season. Coming to terms on an extension with Mike Evans is a huge first step toward doing just that. Gretzky seems to approve, anyway.
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