Maurice D. Evans (born August 14, 1988) is a former

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

defensive end. He was signed by the

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

as an undrafted free agent in 2009. 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 ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. Evans has also been a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers and

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 ...

Early years

While playing for

Christ The King Regional High School Christ the King Regional High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic high school for grades 9-12 located in Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States and established in 1962. It is located within the Roman Catholic Dioces ...

, Evans was a 4-star recruit by rivals.com and a First-team all state selection and was ranked the nations sixth best defensive end coming out of high school after recording 92 tackles, four sacks and four

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recoveries as a senior. Evans was named an Army All-American as a senior and played in the

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

. He was heavily recruited by

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, Penn State, and Notre Dame.

College career

Evans was an immediate contributor in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

as a true freshman, seeing action in all 13 games. He recorded 12 tackles (7 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He would be named to the First-team of the ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

's'' the All- Big Ten Freshman Team. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

—Evans' first starting season at defensive end—Evans recorded 12.5 sacks (including 3.5 against Indiana). He also had 54 tackles, with 21.5 tackles for loss, to go with the 12.5 sacks, broke up 3 passes in coverage, and forced 5 fumbles. He was a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

. By the start of the 2008 season Evans was had been named to numerous preseason All-American teams, including Phil Steele's All-American first-team. He was also on the 2008 Bednarik, Lombardi, and Nagurski award watchlists. In 10 games in 2008, Evans recorded just 34 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks. Evans elected to leave Penn State after to 2008 season and enter the NFL Draft. He trained for the NFL Scouting Combine at Power Train Sports Performance in Millersville, Pennsylvania.

Professional career

Pre-draft

New York Giants

Evans was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Giants after not being taken in the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

. He was waived during final cuts on September 4, 2009.

First stint with Buccaneers

Evans was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 6, 2009. He was waived on September 14.

Carolina Panthers

Evans was signed to the Carolina Panthers

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 24. He was released on October 3 when

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 ...

Ra'Shon Harris Ra'Shon Lamar "Sunny" Harris (born August 26, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oregon. Harris also played for the Buffalo Bi ...

was re-signed to the practice squad.

Second stint with Buccaneers

Evans was re-signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 7, 2009. He was waived on October 10, to make room for

Tanard Jackson Tanard Ricardo Jackson (born July 21, 1985) is a former American football safety. He played college football at Syracuse and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Dra ...

. Evans was signed to the Buccaneers' practice squad on October 28. He was waived on June 14, 2010.

Chicago Bears

Evans signed with the

on August 4, 2010. Evans was waived by the Bears on August 30, 2010.

BC Lions

Evans signed with the BC Lions on May 1, 2012. He was released by the Lions on May 24, 2013.

Personal life

Evans has one child (Amari) with Long time Partner and girlfriend Ieisha Evans' father Michael Evans, was stabbed to death on Christmas Eve, 1988, near the family's home in

East New York, Brooklyn East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...

References

External links

Just Sports StatsBC Lions bioCarolina Panthers bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Maurice 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Brooklyn Players of American football from New York City American football defensive ends Penn State Nittany Lions football players New York Giants players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Carolina Panthers players Chicago Bears players BC Lions players