Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Tez Johnson may not be the MVP this year, but the rookie sure has MVP-level confidence.
Johnson scored the decisive touchdown to help seal the Buccaneers’ 30-19 win Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield connected with Johnson on a 45-yard bomb to give the home team a 27-19 lead late in the third quarter.
TEZ JOHNSON TD! WHAT A CATCH AND WHAT A FLIP
— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025
SFvsTB on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/UtKZZW6YXw
Johnson capped off his celebration with a full front flip. The electric play also earned Mayfield some “MVP” chants. After the game, Johnson hilariously admitted that he initially thought the chants were for him.
“Let me tell y’all a funny story. This is crazy. When I scored and I hear MVP chants, I’m thinking they’re talking about me,” admitted Johnson.
“And so I asked [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’re talking about Baker, Tez.’ And I was like, ‘Well, that explains it.'”
"They was chanting MVP…. I ain't do nothing this year."
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) October 13, 2025
"They talking about Baker, Tez."
Bucs WR Tez Johnson thought Baker's MVP chants were for him 💀
(via @realrockriley) pic.twitter.com/6aAiBib7mz
Johnson finished the story off by stating that Mayfield has been the MVP so far this season. The fans watching Sunday’s Buccaneers-49ers game seemed to agree as well.
Any MVP chants for Johnson would have been premature, to say the least. The Oregon product entered the game with just five receptions for 67 yards across four career NFL games. The rookie’s touchdown on Sunday was the first of his career and also his only catch of the game.
It was quite an eventful day for Johnson. Apart from making the game’s biggest play, he also went viral for his crazy reaction to seeing 49ers linebacker Fred Warner’s gruesome injury up close.
