Bucs Rookie TE Payne Durham Is Catching On Quickly

“It was very humbling,” Durham said of seeing Gronkowski’s misspelled shout-out on X. “I mean, I’ve looked up to him my whole life, so it was very cool. My parents always say, ‘Never too high, never too low.’ So I try to take it in. The really cool thing happened, now go back to zero and focus on next game.”

Durham hopes to meet Gronkowski one day, perhaps this offseason, as the legendary tight end still spends time in Tampa.

“Yeah, that would be pretty awesome,” Durham said. “Even in college I watched a ton of film on him and kind of picked his game apart. So it’d be cool, just to kind of hear some of the why and and the how he did those some of those things.”

Payne Durham Is Making Big Strides In His Rookie Season

Payne Durham was known as a receiving tight end in college due to his 126 career catches for 1,275 yards (10.1 avg.). He needs to improve as an inline blocker in Tampa Bay, but also wants to continue to polish his pass-catching skills at the NFL level.

“Just all-around, it’s really attacking every day and cleaning up what I want to clean up,” Durham said. “I think I’ve grown in my game just as a whole as a tight end overall. I still have a long way to go from where I want to be, but definitely making those strides every day trying to get better.

“I really want to be dependable in the pass game. Like I had the drop against Buffalo – yeah, I hated that drop. I just really want to clean that up and make myself a really, really dependable and reliable target where they know they can go to me for a completion.”

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles has been impressed with his growth and development during Durham’s rookie season.

“He’s coming on. He’s coming along,” Bowles said. “He’s starting to find himself in the offense. He’s scrappy. He’s got to still use the length of his body more. He made a great catch the other week [at Indianapolis], jumping over somebody – those are kind of some of the things he did in college. He’s really starting to let his personality show, which is helping in his play.”

Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield agrees with Bowles’ sentiment.

“He is a really athletic tight end,” Mayfield said. “I think he brings a different aspect in the passing game, as well. Obviously, Cade [Otton] is great in the passing game, but Payne, you saw him in that Indy game making a great catch over the top of somebody. He helps in the run game, as well. He is a versatile guy that is continually learning this offense, as well. He’s a young guy [but] he has continuously improved over the year and that’s what you look for.”

As is the case in college, most NFL players make the biggest jump from their rookie season to their second year after having the benefit of an entire offseason with their team. But Durham isn’t waiting until the offseason to try to make a big jump with his overall game.

“Yeah, in college my freshman year I was on the scout team and I didn’t play at all,” Durham said. “I redshirted that first year, so that was super big on me – just kind of learning because I really only played one year of high school. This is slightly different because I’m playing a little bit as a rookie, so I’m kind of learning in the fire.

“So am I really looking forward to it, to make my big jump? I really try to make that jump every day. I definitely think an offseason with a season under my belt will help me grow as a player, but right now I’m focused on the Falcons. But yeah, last spring was a pretty crazy time with the Combine and the Senior Bowl. So yeah, so it’d be cool to know that I’m going to be a Buccaneer this offseason – here, working out at this place.”

A Trip Home To Georgia This Week Awaits Payne Durham

While his new home is in Tampa, Payne Durham’s hometown is in Georgia, which is the location of this week’s big NFC South matchup between the Bucs and the Falcons in Atlanta. Durham admits to watching plenty of Falcons football growing up, but any allegiance he had to Atlanta is over and done with.

“Was I a Falcons fan? Yes and no,” Durham said. “I definitely went to some games, definitely watched them, but you know I wasn’t in love with them. As a kid, I was kind of the bandwagon guy. I jumped around. I definitely liked them, and this week it’s going to be awesome with just how much is riding on this game.

“It’s super exciting to play up there. I’ll have friends and family there and it should be really cool. Just like in Indy when I had some people from college there. It’s just cool to know you’re going be able to play in front of people that you care so much about you and your journey.”

Durham’s days watching Falcons football made him have a strong appreciation for Mike Evans’ talent. Evans has had more success against Atlanta than any other team, catching 91 passes for 1,399 yards (15.4 avg.) and 11 touchdowns. Last week, Durham had a front row seat to watch history happen, as Evans surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for a 10th straight season.

“I’m from Georgia and I grew up in the NFC South, so I’ve been watching Mike do his thing for a long time,” Durham said. “Last week in the game, I was locked into it, but when he got that catch and when he broke 1,000 [yards] I took a step back, and I was like, ‘This is obviously a very, very cool moment for me. I’m watching this happen. I’m playing with him.’

“It’s just awesome that we have guys like Mike and other older guys on the team, to see how to be a pro. You know they do everything right and they lead by example and are great guys to us rookies. So it was really cool to see that happen.”

Mike Evans isn’t the only Buccaneer Durham looks up to. Bucs Ring of Honor member Mike Alstott was a legendary running back at Purdue, and someone Durham idolized growing up.

“Mike was around the program a good bit, and I missed his son, Griffin, at Purdue by a semester,” Durham said. “But he was around. and you know he’s a great Boilermaker. Just seeing what Mike did here and how active he is in community, it’s awesome. He’s a good Boilermaker to be behind and hopefully I can be a fraction of what he was here for many years to come.”