Athletes all around the sports world were remembering Muhammad Ali since the boxing great died Friday night, but Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans had already taken his admiration for the sports legend to a higher level.
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Evans is such a big fan of Ali, he got a large tattoo of the boxer on his left arm about a month ago.
He shared an image of the tattoo on Twitter shortly after news of Ali's death broke late at night.
RIP Ali one of the greatest and most inspirational athletes of all time! #FloatLikeAButterfly pic.twitter.com/emcqluOvOW
— Mike Evans (@MikeEvans13_) June 4, 2016
Evans talked to the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday about his admiration for Ali, who was 74.
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"I'm a big, big boxing fan," Evans said. "When I was younger, my grandma used to have a library card, and I would go with her. I used to always get boxing books and read them. Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis were my favorites, even though I didn't get to see them fight. But looking him up, I loved the trash he used to talk. He stood for a cause, stood for African-American people. He didn't do it like other black athletes. He didn't keep quiet. He let it be known that he was the best, and he really transcended sports in my mind.
"All the trash-talkers in every sport, it's because of Muhammad Ali. I'm sure nobody was talking the trash he did before his time. Nobody did that. He had an impact and people don't know it. He's one of the best boxers of all time, and one of the most inspirational athletes, giving people motivation. I watched a Youtube video, like a motivational video, from Gorilla Productions, it's like nine minutes and I watch it before every game. I've been doing that since college."