Vince Evans
No. 8, 11, 29 | |||||||
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Position: | Quarterback | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S. | June 14, 1955||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Ben L. Smith (Greensboro) | ||||||
College: | USC | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1977 / Round: 6 / Pick: 140 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Vincent Tobias Evans (born June 14, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and was the most valuable player (MVP) of the 1977 Rose Bowl after the team's 14–6 victory over Michigan. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 1977 NFL draft.
Evans played professionally for the Bears as well as Chicago's team in the United States Football League (USFL), the Chicago Blitz, as well as the USFL's Denver Gold, and the NFL's Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders in a career that spanned nearly 20 years from 1977 to 1995. In 1976, he threw for 1,440 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. He completed 53.7% of his passes.[1]
Evans is the only player of the Bears to score a
After losing the season opener in his final USC season, the Trojans won their next 10 games with Evans at quarterback and ended up ranked the No. 2 team in the nation.
College
Vince Evans played high school football for Ben L. Smith High in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is one of six players from that program that went on to play pro football. The list includes former Washington Redskins center Jeff Bostic and his brother Joe. Former Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Ebron also attended Ben L. Smith.
Evans enrolled at USC and saw his first action during the 1974 season. While at USC, Evans played for future Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach John McKay, and served as an understudy to Pat Haden, who'd later play in the NFL as a member of the Los Angeles Rams. In his first season of action, Evans completed six of sixteen passes for one touchdown and one interception. USC finished 10–1 and number two in the AP poll that season. The following season, with Haden graduated and off to the NFL, Evans took over as starter. Despite having the talented Ricky Bell and Mosi Tatupu in the backfield, the Trojans slipped to 8–4 and ranked 17 in the final AP poll that season. Even as a starter, Evans only attempted 112 passes that season, and the Trojans applied more of a ground attack than an air game. In Evans' senior season, John Robinson came aboard to replace McKay, as he left USC to coach the expansion team in Tampa Bay. Under Robinson, Evans had his best career season, stat wise. He completed 95 passes on 177 attempts, and for the first time, threw more touchdown passes, ten, versus interceptions, six. His primary target that season was receiver Sheldon Diggs, though Tatupu provided a target out of the backfield as well.[3] USC's fortunes in the AP poll improved as well, as the team finished 11–1, with their only loss being the season opener to Missouri. After that, USC rolled off 11 straight wins, including a 56–0 blowout of the Iowa Hawkeyes. From there, USC defeated their Pac-8 opponents and even defeated rival Notre Dame 17–13.[4] Evans led USC to a 14–6 win over Michigan in the 1977 Rose Bowl. Michigan had raced out to a 6–0 lead thanks to a rushing touchdown by Rob Lytle. The kick was missed. Evans led USC down the field later in the second quarter and ran the ball in the end zone himself. The extra point attempt by Glenn Walker was good and the Trojans lead 7–6. Charles White would score a rushing touchdown in the second half to put USC up for good.[5]
Pro career
In 1977, the Bears selected Evans in the sixth round of
The Bears under Ditka restructured the quarterback rotation. Phipps was released, and Evans was a back-up again, this time to Jim McMahon, who the Bears selected in the first round of the 1982 draft. Evans would start three games for the Bears in 1983, going 1–2, but his time in Chicago was over. He balked at the idea of sharing the starting role with McMahon and turned down an offer to remain with the Bears. Instead, Evans jumped to the USFL. He signed a contract that was reported in the area of five million a year to sign with the Chicago Blitz. The contract made Evans one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league at the time.[11] Evans was signed by the new team owners, as the previous ownership group sold their interest in the team to buy the new franchise in Arizona. In doing so, they took the Blitz head coach, George Allen and the starting quarterback Greg Landry with them. New ownership named Marv Levy as the head coach and signed Evans as their starting quarterback.[12]
Evans played only one season for the Blitz. In that season, he completed 200 passes on 411 attempts in the wide open offense that featured running back Tim Spencer and former Notre Dame star Kris Haines at receiver. Once again he threw more interceptions (22) than he did touchdowns (14). The Blitz finished 5–13 and in fifth place.[13] The next season, with the Blitz folded, Evans joined the Denver Gold. Again, he threw more interceptions than he did touchdowns. He split time with Bob Gagliano but the Gold finished with an 11–7 record.[14] After that 1985 season, the USFL made their ill-fated decision to abandon spring football and try and play in the fall. Because of this, Evans did not play football in 1986. During this time, Evans sued the former ownership of the Blitz. Evans claimed he was owed money from arbitration that was never paid.[15]
In 1987, the
Bears score 61 against Green Bay
The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears is one of the longest rivalries in the NFL. Vince Evans was on the right side of the most lopsided Bears/Packers game of all time. The date was December 7, 1980. This was the second meeting between the Bears and Packers that season. In the first match-up, the Packers won in overtime when Packers placekicker Chester Marcol advanced a blocked field goal 25 yards for a touchdown. The rematch started off slow, until Walter Payton scored three times in the second quarter to give the Bears a halftime lead. Evans himself accounted for three touchdown passes. The Green Bay fan base was upset that after Payton and many of the starters were pulled in the second half, Payton re-entered the game to score a rushing touchdown to make it 55–7. While Evans had one of his best games as a pro, the significance of the outcome was that the Bears had failed to score a single touchdown in the three previous meetings against the Packers.[21]
Post NFL career
Evans later admitted he let his ego get in the way when he bolted the NFL for the USFL. Jim McMahon ended up getting injured during his rookie season, which means Evans would have gotten more playing time. After the USFL folded, Evans figured his resume would get him a look from teams in the NFL. It didn't and the only door that opened was when the players went on strike and owners decided to continue the season with replacement players. Evans was one of a few that was kept by the Raiders after the strike ended. Though he admitted that playing in the USFL was a mistake, he felt proud that he was firm in playing quarterback in the NFL, though he felt more pressure as an African-American playing quarterback in the NFL. He was happy to see Doug Williams become the first African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl. After leaving football, Evans built a successful real estate career in Southern California.[22]
References
- ^ "The Greatest Tradition In College Football" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
- ^ Mayer, Larry (March 5, 2013). "Bears crushed Packers in memorable 1980 meeting". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
- ^ "Vince Evans College Stats".
- ^ "1976 USC Trojans Schedule and Results".
- ^ "1976 USC Trojans Schedule and Results".
- ^ "1977 Chicago Bears Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "Divisional Round – Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys – December 26th, 1977". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "Chicago Bears at San Diego Chargers – December 4th, 1978". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions – November 27th, 1980". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "The first black QB to start for each NFL team". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE; Blitz Signs Evans". The New York Times. November 16, 1983.
- ^ "Disgruntled Chicago Bears' quarterback Vince Evans has confirmed he".
- ^ "1984 Chicago Blitz football Statistics on StatsCrew.com".
- ^ "1985 Denver Gold football Statistics on StatsCrew.com".
- ^ "Former Chicago Bears quarterback Vince Evans is suing the".
- ^ "The Replacements – Raiders Making History".
- ^ "Indianapolis Colts at Oakland Raiders – October 22nd, 1995". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers – November 27th, 1995". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders – December 3rd, 1995". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders – December 24th, 1995". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "35 years ago today: Bears beat Packers in most lopsided game in series history". December 7, 2015.
- ^ "Vince Evans was steadfast on playing quarterback in the pros". October 19, 2017.