Frederick H. Evans (born November 6, 1983) is a former

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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He was drafted by the Dolphins in the seventh round (212th overall) of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. 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 ...

at College of DuPage for two years before transferring to

Texas State Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

Early years

Evans was a two-way starting lineman at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Morgan Park High School Morgan Park High School is a 4–year public high school and middle school located in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the far south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1916, Morgan Park is a part of the Chicago Public Schools dis ...

, which is generally recognized as one of the top five high schools in the Chicago Public School system. While there he played alongside future NFL

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Corey Mays Corey Lemard Mays (born November 27, 1983, in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Notre Dame ...

College career

Dupage

Evans played two seasons for the Chaparrals at

College of DuPage College of DuPage is a public community college with its main campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates facilities in the Illinois communities of Addison, Carol Stream, Naperville and Westmont. With more than 20,000 s ...

Glen Ellyn, Illinois Glen Ellyn is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. A suburb located due west of downtown Chicago, the village has a population of 28,846 as of the 2020 Census. History Glen Ellyn, like the neighboring town to the east, Lomba ...

. He earned Second-team All-North Central Community College Conference (N4C) honors as well as All-Region IV at the school known as the Midwest's largest single campus community college. He played on the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

as a sophomore after being moved from

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

where he played his rookie year.

Texas State

At Texas State in 2004, Evans was moved back to the defensive line during the first week of spring practices. He registered 33 total tackles for the Bobcats, including 17.5 for losses to account for -61 yards. He had 26 solo stops and 14 assists in his first season for the Bobcats and led the team with 6.5 quarterback sacks for 35 lost yards. He also had a pass breakup and officially was credited with five quarterback hurries. He forced a fumble in the Bobcats' game against Division I-A Florida Atlantic. He was credited with at least a share of a quarterback sack in each of Texas State's first three games. He registered 4.5 tackles, including four solo hits, in the Bobcats' game at Baylor and had two tackles for loss against the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

school, including a quarterback sack and was credited with a quarterback hurry. As a senior in 2005, Evans earned a First-team All-

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

selection for the second straight year. He registered 55 total tackles, 24 solo stops and 31 assists during the year. He led the Southland Conference with five quarterback sacks for 35 lost yards and 18 tackles for 72 lost yards. He had at least one tackle for loss in the Bobcats' first five games. He participated in the

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

after the season.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Evans was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round (212th overall) of the

and signed a four-year contract on July 26, 2006. He had a fairly impressive preseason as a rookie, but was active for only one of the 16 regular season contests. He made his

NFL 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 major ...

debut in the season finale against 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 ...

on December 31 and had two tackles. In the early morning of 2007-06-23 Evans was arrested in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

. According to the police report, Evans was in a dispute with a taxi driver, and refused to leave the cab at the request of the officers called to the scene. Evans reportedly engaged in a physical struggle with the officers when they tried to handcuff him, with one officer being bitten on his left wrist. The officers then used tasers to subdue Evans. He was charged with battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and trespassing. Complicating matters could be the fact that Evans is already on probation in Colorado County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, for possession of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

. In a team-released statement, Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron said: "We are aware that Fred Evans was arrested this morning. We will not condone this type of behavior. I assure everyone it will be dealt with seriously". Cameron made good on his word a few days later, as Evans was waived by the team on June 28.

Minnesota Vikings

Evans then signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. However, he had limited playing time as a backup for the Vikings premier lineman Pat Williams. Evans played in 11 games and finished the year with 3 tackles and 1 sack. In 2008, Fred Evans played in all 16 games. December 21 in a week sixteen game against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, Evans made his first NFL start due to Williams injuring his shoulder the week before. Evans would go to start the following week and in the wild card playoff game.(where he recovered a fumble after

Jared Allen Jared Scot Allen (born April 3, 1982) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He played college football at Idaho State and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth ...

stripped the ball from

Donovan McNabb Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Before his NFL career, he played football and b ...

) A

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

in the 2009 offseason, Evans re-signed with the Vikings on April 6. On March 13, 2014, Evans re-signed with the Vikings on a one-year deal.

Personal life

Evans is a cousin of

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Gary Matthews Jr. Gary Nathaniel Matthews Jr. (born August 25, 1974) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1999 to 2010. Matthews is the son of the 1973 Rookie of the Year, 1979 All-Star, and former ...

Evans's sister Aja "Storm" Evans competed on the women's US bobsleigh team at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Fred 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football defensive tackles Texas State Bobcats football players Miami Dolphins players Minnesota Vikings players