After running down a pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield for his first NFL touchdown on Sunday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Tez Johnson heard the roar of the crowd at Raymond James Stadium.

“When I scored and I hear MVP chants, I’m thinking they’re talking about me,” Johnson said after the Buccaneers defeated the San Francisco 49ers 30-19. “And so I asked (wide receiver Sterling Shepard), I’m like, ‘Shep, they was chanting MVP,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah.’ I was like, ‘I ain’t do nothing this year.’ And then he was like, ‘They talking about Baker, Tez.’ And I was like, ‘Well, that explains it.’

“But he is the MVP.”

Johnson’s caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield as the Bucs took a 27-19 lead with 2:40 left in the third quarter on their way to a 5-1 record.

“That’s exactly how we drew it up,” Johnson said after Sunday’s game, “and we knew what coverage they was going to be in. And when I looked back and I seen Baker kind of slide up a little bit, I was like, ‘All right, here it go. But no matter what, I’m going to catch this ball because no telling when the next one’s coming.’ So when I caught it, it just stuck to my hand, I’ll be honest with you. I watched it all the way in, and the rest is history. …

“It’s a dream. When it came, it’s like, ‘I’m ready to talk to my mom.’ I’m ready to talk to my mama and see what she think about it. I know she going to be cheering. I haven’t even checked my phone yet, so it’s going to be one of those things, like, I don’t want to check my phone. I just want to call people and just have them tell me about it. But it’s awesome. It’s a blessing. Thank God for every opportunity that I have because literally without God, I won’t have the opportunity.”

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Of Tampa Bay’s usual set of starting wide receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin did not play on Sunday and Emeka Egbuka left the game with a hamstring injury. That opened the way for Tez Johnson to catch his first NFL touchdown pass in his first start, and Kameron Johnson to make the first four receptions of his NFL career, including Mayfield’s other TD toss against San Francisco.

“Everybody has faith in one another in that room,” Tez Johnson said. “So, I mean, Mike go down, he’s a vet, and you’re like, ‘OK, next man up.’ Chris go down once he get back, and you’re like, ‘OK, next man up.’ But the thing that I enjoy about this room and this team is the confidence and the trust they have in the next guy. I never been a part of a team like that. It’s like with another team I played for, like, one guy goes down, it’s like ‘Oh, man, season over with’ because they always depend on that one guy. But here it’s just ‘All right, next man up, but we believe in you, so go out there and do your best and we going to be behind you every step of the way.’”

Tez Johnson joined Tampa Bay as a final-round choice in the NFL Draft on April 26. Kameron Johnson came to Tampa Bay as an undrafted rookie from NCAA Division II Barton College last season. He played 26 offensive snaps on Sunday after having 69 in his first 11 NFL games.

“Tez and Kam really stepped up tonight,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “Came into their own. The talent was always there, just understanding the offense. And those guys can play. We feel like we’re very deep in that room. We can’t afford to lose any more, but we feel like we’re very deep in that room, and I thought those two guys really did a hell of a job tonight.”

Tez Johnson earned All-State recognition at Pinson Valley High School in 2018 and 2019. In those two seasons, he had 162 receptions for 2,597 yards and 22 touchdowns. The Indians won the AHSAA Class 6A championship in 2018.

Johnson played three seasons at Troy before transferring to Oregon in 2023. During his college career, Johnson had 310 receptions for 3,889 yards and 28 touchdowns, nine rushing attempts for 50 yards and one touchdown, and 56 punt returns for a 9.3-yard average and one touchdown. He also threw a touchdown pass for Troy in 2022.

“He’s got speed,” Bowles said after Sunday’s game. “I mean, he’s got speed, and he can get down. He can get past you if you don’t know who he is. And he’s got great hands. He made a heck of a catch diving into the end zone. And you know, he knows how to celebrate coming out of college from Oregon. He knows how to celebrate.”

After his touchdown catch on Sunday, Johnson cartwheeled in the end zone before flying into a backflip.

“He did the perfect celly,” Kameron Johnson said. “The flip was insane. He looked like an acrobat out there. I wish I could do something like that. It was crazy.”

Bowles said he wasn’t concerned that Johnson could join Tampa Bay’s wide-receiver injury list with his celebration.

“I have the utmost confidence in Tez,” Bowles said. “We’ve hit it off from Day 1, and, you know, he’s like a son to me.”

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