EVANS ESCAPED TEENAGE LIFE OF CRIME TO MAKE MOTHER PROUD
One-time bad boy from Compton has found contentment playing football in Canada
It would be easy to suggest football was the salvation in DeQuin Evans’ life, the avenue that took him from the housing projects in Compton, Calif., and a juvenile detention centre to a more peaceful and stable existence in the Canadian Football League.
And it wouldn’t be wrong, as Evans is hardly the first to use a game to escape a life of crime, street gangs, prison and — more often than not — a premature death. But long before Evans discovered football at age 20, he had an epiphany and realized something had to drastically change. Incarcerated three times for armed robbery, assault and stealing a car, he was led into court in chains.
“I remember my mom seeing me and I remember the moan coming from her voice out of shame and hurt,” Evans, candid, thoughtful and reflective, said. “I remember my baby sisters being there, screaming ‘take those things off my brother. Please let my brother come home.’”
Evans was 14. His grandfather, one of the primary male influences in his life — his father was rarely around, spending much of Evans’ childhood in prison — was dying of colon cancer. When he died, Evans had to attend the funeral accompanied by a correctional officer after a 10-hour furlough was arranged. He remembers the embarrassment his family felt.
“From that point on, I said to myself — after I went back in, shedding a tear — how could I put my mom through this? The man of the house, even though I was only 14,” Evans said. “I said to myself, ‘I’m never going to put my mom in this situation again.’ No matter what it cost to not do the wrong things (anymore), I wasn’t going to do it. I was not going to be a product of my environment.”
The atrocities Evans saw and experienced as a youth are chilling and gut-wrenching. Teenagers shot and killed, bodies removed from burning cars, rival gangs settling their differences with fists — or worse — in one of the worst areas of greater Los Angeles. It was normal to him.
Evans didn’t want to be one of them, but found himself inexorably gravitating toward the gangbangers, crying out for the male affirmation he lacked at home. They were the cool kids, the ones with money, new clothes and power. And every time one of them met a violent death, Evans remembers merely being thankful it wasn’t him.
When one of his close friends, a schoolmate, was killed, “shot up real bad” at age 14, it should have had a profound effect on Evans. And yet, he committed an armed robbery. Evans didn’t provide specifics, but said it was with full intent and knowledge. Then there was the assault on an older kid. Evans, who grew into a 6-foot-3, 255-pound body, always was big for his age.
Following each arrest, he would spend months at Camp Kilpatrick, a juvenile detention facility. It was while watching Gridiron Gang, a film based on the camp, that Evans finally decided enough was enough.
He worked as a grocery bagger, but decided to return to school. His cousin, Herschel Dennis, a running back at the University of Southern California, received permission allowing Evans to sit in on classes. He enrolled at Los Angeles Harbor College in 2007 and became one of the top 15 junior college prospects in the U.S. before transferring to Kentucky.
A one-time tight end, Evans was shifted to the defensive line where he played rush end. He was named all-conference after his first year at junior college. With the Wildcats, he possessed the rare combination of size, speed and the ability to get to the quarterback. As a junior, he led Kentucky in sacks and tackles for losses. He was named a fourthteam, all-SEC all-star. Evans was appointed a team captain as a senior.
But he was hobbled by injuries and illness throughout spring practice and summer camp, missing nearly half of the 2010 schedule. He wasn’t drafted in 2011 and signed as a free agent with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. But more problems arose.
Evans was having difficulty learning the playbook after the Bengals’ defensive co-ordinator switched him from rush-end to linebacker. A psychologist diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and prescribed Adderall daily. He was suspended twice for taking performance enhancing drugs before he was released in 2013.
Evans decided to continue his career in the CFL, signing with Calgary in 2014. He appeared in 13 games over two seasons, producing three sacks and 19 tackles. Evans then signed with the Alouettes as a free agent in 2016, but suffered a torn foot tendon near the end of training camp. He wasn’t activated until October, dressing for five games. A free agent last winter, the 30-year-old signed with British Columbia.
“I knew him more from Calgary. I always thought he was very solid,” said Wally Buono, the Lions’ general manager and head coach. “When you’re playing behind Charleston Hughes, John Bowman, those kind of guys, you’re not necessarily going to get the opportunity.
“When we signed him, it was to have a good guy who has played. It was a starting point on defence. If somebody was better, so be it. If he gave us more than we expected, so be it. At this point, he’s met all expectations. If anything, he’s exceeded them.”
Evans has found the serenity and contentment he sought. Evans and Canadian Olympian Jenna Martin-Evans celebrated their third wedding anniversary. After football, he hopes to make a career in social work, interacting with troubled youths. Now, finally, he can make his mother proud of what he has become. hzurkowsky@postmedia.com twitter.com/HerbZurkowsky1
I remember my baby sisters being there, screaming ‘take those things off my brother. Please let my brother come home.’ DEQUIN EVANS