Leading OFF
The making of a 2022 NFL draft prospect: Evan Neal of Alabama
Evan Neal’s uncle, Jimmy Gary Jr., liked to call it the ironman run.
The loop started in a neighborhood, went up to town, along U.S. Highway 441 in Okeechobee, Florida, and then all the way back down. Gary had Neal, Neal’s brothers and his cousins take part when Gary was back home in Florida, visiting from New York. Gary ran, too.
Neal was about 7 years old the first time he completed the run that went at least four miles.
“I remember being a kid, just really exhausted,” Neal told The Tuscaloosa News.
“Being a kid in the hot sun, you’re running, I can definitely say it helped develop a competitive character in my brothers and I for sure.”
This might not be a normal family activity while an uncle visits, but Neal’s family isn’t normal.
The 6-foot-71⁄2, 337-pound Alabama football offensive lineman has a family tree filled with athletes. Try to follow this – Gary, his mom’s brother, played running back for West Virginia and later the Seattle Seahawks. Cleveland Gary, his mom’s cousin, played for the Miami Hurricanes before the Los Angeles Rams selected him in the first round of the 1989 NFL draft.
Charles Emanuel, another cousin, played defensive back at West Virginia and later the Philadelphia Eagles.
Then there’s Jimmie Jones, an uncle by marriage and a defensive tackle at Miami before he won two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. Neal also has an uncle on his dad’s side, Frankie Neal, a Florida receiver and Green Bay Packers draft pick. Eddie Neal, Neal’s dad, played linebacker at Tulane.
Evan Neal is about to become the latest to turn pro early on in
this week’s NFL draft.
Genetics gave him a head start, but his competitive immediate and extended family of athletes have helped him grow over his 21 years to become a top draft prospect.
A few will go with him to Las Vegas, while some will be watching from his draft party back in Okeechobee.
“They just helped me to have a respect for, if you have the gifts, being passionate about them,” Neal said, “and just working hard to develop them and put your best foot forward to be the best you can be.”
They also have told him stories.
There’s the time his dad hit an SMU running back. Eddie Neal called it one of the hardest collisions he’s ever had playing football when he smacked Eric Dickerson.
Cleveland Gary shared memories with Neal from his first NFL game.
“He felt like he got hit by a semi truck,” Neal recalled. “His fingers were swollen, his body was swollen, and just how physical the game was. That always sounded really cool.”
Competitive walks
The Sunday strolls on the levee always began as walks. By the end, they usually turned into races.
Neal estimates that after parking, him, his siblings and his parents would walk about two miles. One out, one back.
“One person will start walking faster, and someone else will start walking faster,” Neal said. “Next thing you know, it’s a jog. Then the jog turns into a run.”
It all usually started about 100 yards out from their vehicle. His dad often fueled the race, too, challenging Neal and his siblings to see who could make it back fastest.
Neal and his two older brothers, Eddie and Edrick, tried to beat each other.
“Even though he was a big guy, he wasn’t as old, so he was always having to give 110% when everyone else was giving 100% because he had to,” said his mom, Sheila Neal. “He was as big as everyone else, so people expected the same thing out of him.”
Eddie and Sheila Neal have five kids together, three boys
and two girls. Each played basketball, and each boy played football. Neal also has half-siblings from each parent.
He’s the tallest, and his brothers are just a few inches shorter. Neal has two sisters who are 6-2.
“Our grocery bill was our biggest bill,” his mom said.
She had to make a daily grocery trip, spending $80-$90 a time during the school year. During the summer, she spent about $500 a week.
“We ate so much, I don’t really know how my parents did it,” Neal said, “having to feed that many large humans every day.”
‘One of my superheroes’
Neal was about 13 the first time he entered a hot yoga studio.
Of course, it was his uncle Jimmy Gary who got him into hot yo.
“It was like nothing I have ever experienced because, you know, you tell the average person, ‘OK, let’s do some yoga,’ ” Neal said. “They’re gonna expect it to kind of be relaxed, might be a little challenging.
You wander into that room, that heated room, you’re doing all those poses, you realize exactly how challenging (hot yoga) is.”
It has helped him have impressive flexibility for a man of his size. It’s one of many workouts through the years with his uncle.
Neal often raced him when he visited, too. One time, Gary ran against not only Neal but also his brothers, cousins and more in their grandma’s backyard. Neal figured he, a kid, could beat the “old guy.” Not so much. Gary still had some juice.
“I love him to death,” Neal said. “Growing up, he was one of my superheroes.”
Big kid who can move
Sandlot football was a favorite way for Neal and his two brothers to compete with neighbors.
Neal remembers a day when he was about 9 and played running back. He certainly wasn’t 6-7 yet, but he has never been small. So it was still notable when he made a few good cuts and stiff-armed a guy.
“I was like, ‘OK, I’m a big kid but I can move a little bit,’ ” Neal said.
He’s not about to be playing running back at the next level, but that athleticism remains.
Neal has worked to become as fluid an athlete as he is for an offensive lineman, but it also makes sense considering his family. Most on the long list of pros played skill positions.
“I think some of that did rub off,” his mom said.
His family’s insights, the training and the friendly competition through the years have all helped build Neal. And now he’s about to become likely the highest NFL draft pick of them all.
“It takes a village, man,” Neal said. “I can say it’s just a compilation of my parents, my uncles, whoever. I feel capable of learning anything from anyone. All of those people helped me in my journey.”