Stephen Dane Evans (born November 19, 1993) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played for six seasons in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He was a member of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

, and

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

College career

Evans passed for 3,102 yards as a sophomore in 2014. In 2015, he completed 305 of 485 passes for 4,332 yards and 25 touchdowns and ranked eighth among

NCAA Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

quarterbacks in passing yardage. As a senior, he passed for 3,348 yards and 32 touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Evans was rated the 25th best quarterback in the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

by NFLDraftScout.com.

Philadelphia Eagles

After going undrafted in the 2017 NFL Draft, Evans signed with the

on June 30, 2017. He was waived on September 1, 2017.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On October 3, 2017, Evans was signed to the

' practice roster. On November 2, 2017, he was promoted to the active roster. Evans made his first career CFL start on November 3, 2018, throwing for 315 yards in a 30–28 loss against the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

. He finished the season having played in three games, completing 26 of 42 pass attempts for 383 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. On April 9, 2019, Evans signed a contract extension with Hamilton through the 2021 season. He began the season as the backup quarterback and came in relief of injured starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli in Week 7 of the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

to lead the Ti-Cats to victory, moving them into first place in the league with a 5–1 record. In the following days, it was revealed that Masoli suffered a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

injury and would miss the remainder of the season; thrusting Evans into the starting role. Evans started 11 of the last 12 games of the season, and was named a CFL Top Performer for the month of September. He finished the regular season having completed 298 passes out of 413 attempts for 3,754 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He had a 9–2 record as a starter and led the Tiger-Cats to a first place finish in the East Division. In his first career playoff start, he completed 21 passes out of 36 attempts for 386 yards, including one touchdown and one interception, en route to his first playoff win and berth in the

107th Grey Cup The 107th Grey Cup decided the champion of the 2019 season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The match was played on November 24, 2019, between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. Win ...

. The Tiger Cats were defeated by the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

in the championship match. Evans restructured his contract with the Tiger-Cats in January 2020; however the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. During the 2020 football season, Evans was hired as a graduate assistant by the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

. Evans began the 2021 season as the backup to Jeremiah Masoli, however he was named the starter for the team's Week 4 game against the Montreal Alouettes. He suffered a lower-body injury partway though the team's Week 6 game against the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

: On September 13, 2021, it was announced that Evans would miss four to six weeks recovering. On October 19, 2021, the Ti-Cats announced that Evans had been activated from injured reserve. Evans played in the second half of the final game of the season for the Ticats, securing a 24–3 win. After Masoli got off to a slow start in the Eastern Final against the Argonauts Evans replaced him and completed all 16 of his pass attempts for 249 yards and a touchdown leading Hamilton to a Grey Cup berth. Following the win, Ticats head coach Orlando Steinauer named Evans the starter for the

108th Grey Cup The 108th Grey Cup decided the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the 2021 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was cancelled and the start of the 2021 season was delayed, pushing the game to December 12, 2021. The ...

. However, Evans was injured in the second quarter and was forced to leave the game, being replaced by Masoli who was ultimately defeated by the Blue Bombers in overtime. On January 12, 2022 Dane Evans signed a 2-year contract extension to remain with the Hamilton Tiger Cats. Evans began the 2022 season as the starting quarterback after Jeremiah Masoli signed with the Ottawa Redblacks in free agency: Matthew Shiltz was signed to be the backup quarterback. In the middle of the season Evans battled through a shoulder injury. After missing three of four games Evans returned to the starting lineup on September 17, 2022. By the end of the season Evans had fallen out of favour with the management in Hamilton. In late January 2023, Hamilton signed veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell to a three-year contract with the expectation he will be their starting quarterback in 2023 and beyond. Given his large salary, the Tiger-Cats were reluctant to retain Evans as a backup quarterback, and thus his future in Hamilton was uncertain.

BC Lions

On February 23, 2023, Evans was traded to the

in exchange for a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2024 CFL Draft. According to TSN insider

Farhan Lalji Farhan Lalji is a Vancouver-based sports reporter and the Vancouver Bureau Reporter for The Sports Network, TSN's SportsCentre. He previously anchored ''SportsCentre, SportsDesk'' between 1997 and 2000. Career Lalji joined TSN in 1997 as an a ...

, Evans agreed to a restructured contract to reflect the fact he will be competing for the number two quarterback role behind presumed starter Vernon Adams Jr. His base salary in 2023 was reported at $94,000 and could earn up to a maximum of $151,000 if he achieves multiple incentive based bonuses. In Week 6 Adams suffered a knee injury and Evans came off the bench to help the Lions secure victory over the

Roughriders The Rough Riders were the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment during the Spanish–American War. Rough riders, roughriders, rough rider or roughrider may also refer to: Military and police * City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders), a defunct Brit ...

. He was named the starting quarterback for the following week while Adams recovered. He started in two games in 2023 and played in 16 regular season games, where he had 71 completions on 103 attempts for 829 yards with four touchdowns and six interceptions. On January 1, 2024, he announced his retirement from professional football.

CFL statistics

Personal life

Evans is of Native American ancestry, belonging to the Wichita; his great-grandmother, Doris McLemore, was the last fluent speaker of the

Wichita language Wichita is a Caddoan language spoken in Anadarko, Oklahoma by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. The last fluent heritage speaker, Doris Lamar-McLemore, died in 2016, although in 2007 there were three first-language speakers alive. This has ...

References

External links

BC Lions bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Dane 1993 births Living people Players of American football from Oklahoma Sportspeople from Chickasha, Oklahoma People from Sanger, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Philadelphia Eagles players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Native American players of American football BC Lions players Players of Canadian football from Oklahoma