Redblacks DB Evans making the grade now

Randall Evans figures a key launch point to his success as a football player came in middle school.

Back then, the Ottawa Redblacks defensive back, who filled in as a starter when Jonathan Rose missed last week’s game against the B.C. Lions, received an F for one course on a midterm progress report.

“I was afraid to give it to my mom (Melissa Doctor),” the now 26-year-old Evans said. “My little brother gave her his report, so she asked me where mine was. She said, ‘Don’t make me call the school.’ I got a pen and tried to change the F to a B. I gave her the paper … she went off on me, she said, ‘You know you can go to jail?’ We laugh about it now. But that was a turning point for me. When I got to college, I kept that mentality of not trying to get Ds or Fs.”

Along the way, Evans also developed a belief in himself, that he could accomplish big things, even when others doubted. He went to Kansas State University as a walk-on for the football team. He worked hard for two years and was rewarded with a scholarship for his last three seasons.

“You have to believe in yourself,” Evans said. “When I talk to high school kids, I tell them not to let others dictate what you’re going to do and what you want to be in life.

“... My high school coach told me not to walk on at Kansas State. He said walk-ons were treated differently. When I got drafted ( by the NFL’S Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round in 2015), he called me and said, ‘I’m proud of you. You did everything I told you not to do.’ ”

Evans was released by the Eagles in 2016. The Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-cats brought him in last season but he played just one game for them before being released again. The Redblacks quickly reached out.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better situation. God works in mysterious ways,” Evans said.