Darrynton L.A. Evans (born July 9, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

. He was drafted by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

in the third round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Early life and high school career

Evans attended

New Smyrna Beach High School New Smyrna Beach High School (NSBHS) is a public high school located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, United States. About The school mascot is the Barracuda, commonly referred to as the "Cuda." The high school opened in 1963 on what is now calle ...

New Smyrna, Florida New Smyrna Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, located on the central east coast of the state, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Its population is 30,142 in 2020 by the United States Census Bureau. The downtown section o ...

. He committed to

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

to play college football.

College career

As a true freshman at Appalachian State in 2016, Evans played in 12 games rushing for 217 yards on 48 carries. He also returned 25 kicks for 563 yards and a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

. Evans missed 2017 due to injury and redshirted. Returning from the injury in 2018, he entered the season as a backup to Jalin Moore but took over as the starter after Moore was injured for the season, and rushed for 1,187 yards on 179 carries and seven touchdowns. As a kick returner he had 490 yards on 15 returns and had a touchdown. He was named the MVP of the

2018 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game The 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championship Game was played on December 1, 2018, between the Mountaineers of Appalachian State and the Ragin' Cajuns from Louisiana. The game was played at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina, due to Appala ...

after totaling 218 total yards. As a full-time starter in 2019, Evans was the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 1,480 yards with 2,064 all purpose yards and 24 total touchdowns. He was also named MVP of the

2019 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game The 2019 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game was a college football game played on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina, to determine the 2019 champion of the Sun Belt Conference. The game, the co ...

and

2019 New Orleans Bowl The 2019 New Orleans Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 21, 2019, with kickoff at 9:00 p.m. EST (8:00 p.m. local CST) on ESPN. It was the 19th edition of the New Orleans Bowl, and one of the 2019–20 bowl game ...

. After the season, he decided to forgo his senior season and enter the

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

Evans was selected by the

with the 93rd overall pick in the third round of the

. He was placed on injured reserve on October 15, 2020, with a hamstring injury. He was activated on December 7, 2020. In Week 15 against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

, Evans recorded 57 yards from scrimmage and a receiving touchdown during the 46–25 win. This was Evans' first career touchdown. Evans finished the 2020 season playing in five games with 14 rushes for 54 yards, two receptions for 27 yards and a receiving touchdown, and nine kickoff returns for 206 yards as a backup to rushing yards and touchdowns leader

Derrick Henry Derrick Lamar Henry Jr. (born January 4, 1994) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). His imposing rushing game and larger stature than the average running back earned him the nickna ...

. He recorded one carry for one yard in the Titans' 20–13 loss to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in the wildcard round of the playoffs. On September 2, 2021, Evans was placed on injured reserve. He was activated on October 23. On October 29, 2021 he was placed back on injured reserve for a second time ending his season. On March 10, 2022, Evans was waived by the Titans.

Chicago Bears

On March 11, 2022, Evans was claimed off waivers by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He was waived on August 30, 2022 and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on November 27.

Indianapolis Colts

On March 31, 2023, Evans signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. He was waived on May 2, 2023.

Buffalo Bills

On July 25, 2023, Evans signed with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. He was released on August 29, 2023.

Miami Dolphins

On August 31, 2023, Evans signed with the

practice squad.

Personal life

Evans is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Evans is married to Aiyana Willoughby. He runs a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...

channel called ItzLiveee.

References

External links

Appalachian State Mountaineers bioTennessee Titans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Darrynton 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Volusia County, Florida American football running backs Appalachian State Mountaineers football players Tennessee Titans players Chicago Bears players Indianapolis Colts players Buffalo Bills players Miami Dolphins players