Shaquelle "Shaq" Evans (born March 7, 1991) is an American football wide receiver for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the

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

in the fourth round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. 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 UCLA. Evans has also been a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars,

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, Dallas Cowboys and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Early years

Evans was selected and participated in the Hawaii Prep Football Classic. He played in the U.S. Army All-American game. He was selected to SuperPrep All-America team in high school. He was named to the Western 100 by the Tacoma News-Tribune in high school. He was selected to the all-state third team by CalHiSports.com following his senior year in high school.

College career

Evans originally attended Notre Dame, but decided to transfer to UCLA due to the proximity to home. Evans was on the watchlist for the

Fred Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

prior to his senior year. He was an all-conference honorable mention that season, helping the Bruins to a 10 win season.

Professional career

New York Jets

On May 10, 2014, he was drafted by the

in the fourth round, 115 overall of the

. He signed a 4-year, $2.67 million contract on May 15, 2014. Before he could appear in an NFL game, Evans was placed on injured reserve on August 19, 2014, with a shoulder injury. On September 5, 2015, the Jets waived Evans.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Evans was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad on September 29, 2015. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Jaguars. He was signed to the Jaguars' practice squad the next day. He was released on September 13.

New England Patriots

Evans was signed to the

' practice squad on October 12, 2016. On October 20, 2016, the Patriots released Evans from their practice squad.

Dallas Cowboys

On January 4, 2017, Evans was signed to the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Cowboys on January 16, 2017. On April 21, 2017, Evans was suspended the first four games of the 2017 season for violating the league's drug policy. On April 27, 2017, Evans was waived by the Cowboys.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On February 22, 2018, Evans signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He played in 17 regular season games in 2018 where he had 50 receptions for 785 yards. In 2019, Evans had 72 receptions and 1334 receiving yards and scored five touchdowns en route to being named a CFL All-Star. He signed a one-year contract extension with the team on December 24, 2020. In his third season with the club Evans played in seven games, catching 25 passes for 244 yards. On January 18, 2022, Evans and the Riders agreed to a contract extension. Evans was forced out of the Roughriders third game of the 2022 season with an ankle injury. It was later reported he would miss 6–8 weeks with a fractured ankle. At the time he had caught 10 passes for 185 yards. In total Evans missed eight games in 2022, playing in 10 regular season games and catching 32 passes for 487 yards with two touchdowns. In late January 2023, as a pending free agent, Evans told a local radio station that he did not expect to re-sign with the Roughriders.

Ottawa Redblacks

On February 14, 2023, the first day of free agency, Evans signed a one-year contract with the Ottawa Redblacks.

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bioUCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Shaq 1991 births Living people American football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Canadian football wide receivers Dallas Cowboys players Jacksonville Jaguars players New England Patriots players New York Jets players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Sportspeople from Inglewood, California UCLA Bruins football players Inglewood High School (California) alumni Players of American football from Inglewood, California