Evan Gill (born August 19, 1992) is a Canadian 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 ...

defensive lineman 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 (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

who played 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 played

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athlet ...

at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

Early life

Gill is a graduate of Churchill High School in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. He was a multi-sport athlete and provincial champion in four different sports.

College career

In 2010, Gill

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a true freshman. In 2011, he started at defensive end playing all 8 regular season games recording 32.5 Tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 6.5 tackles for loss. Following the 2011 season, he was selected to represent Canada at the IFAF 2012 International Bowl. The game featured the top 50 under 19 Americans on Team USA. Gill played with the IFAF World Team which was made up of 50 players from 22 countries outside of the United States. He recorded 5 tackles, 2 sacks and a fumble recovery as the team's top defensive performer while the World Team upset Team USA 35-29. Team USA featured standouts such as Quarterback

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January6, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, becoming the youngest pl ...

, Running Back

Todd Gurley Todd Jerome Gurley II (born August 3, 1994) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the Georg ...

, and Linebacker Noor Davis. In 2012, he moved from

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

, and recorded 23 tackles, and 3 tackles for a loss in 8 regular season games. In 2013, at

, he recorded 29.5 tackles, 4 sacks, 8 tackles for a loss. Playing in all 8 regular season games, the Bisons also hosted the

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

semifinal which featured the

University of Saskatchewan Huskies The Saskatchewan Huskies are the athletics teams representing the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The university began their athletics program in 1907 and has competed with others since 1911. They currently compete in eli ...

. The Bisons won 37-36 on a failed field goal attempt, then advanced to the

Hardy Cup The Hardy Trophy is a Canadian sport trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association Football Conference of U Sports, the country's governing body for university athletics. It is named for Evan Hardy, ...

final where they were defeated by the University of Calgary Dinos. In 2014, he played in two games. His season ended after suffering an

Anterior Cruciate Ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

tear.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Following the 2013 season, selected as one of two Canadians to participate in the 2014 East–West Shrine Game. The game was televised globally on the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

. The game is played by many top NCAA college football players who are entering the

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. All 32 teams attend the week of practice, interviewing numerous players and interacting with them. Gill became the third player from the

to attend. Previous players include Jason Rahaus and former NFL player

Israel Idonije Israel Idonije (born November 17, 1980) is a Nigerian-Canadian former professional football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) and actor. Idonije played CIS football at the University of Manitoba. A draft pick of the now defun ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Gill was drafted by the

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 ...

with the ninth overall pick of the 2014 CFL Draft. He opted to play one more season for the Bisons to get healthy, recover from a quadriceps injury, and possibly increase his chances at being an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

draft pick. However, he was injured for most of the

2014 CIS football season The 2014 CIS football season began on September 1, 2014 with ten Ontario University Athletics teams playing that day. The season concluded on November 29 with the 50th Vanier Cup championship at Molson Stadium in Montreal. This year, 27 university ...

. In 2015, he was invited to rookie minicamp on a tryout basis with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

but did not receive medical clearance and did not participate. He signed with the Tiger-Cats ahead of the 2015 season, but sat out the whole year due to the ACL injury he endured in 2014. He suffered through two more injury-plagued years in 2016 and 2017, playing in only five total games with the Tiger-Cats.

Toronto Argonauts

On May 16, 2018, Gill signed with 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 ...

. He was released on June 10, 2018.

Edmonton Eskimos

Gill was signed to the practice roster of the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

on October 16, 2018. He was moved to the one-game injured list on October 23, and moved to the six-game injured list on November 2, 2018. He was released on April 29, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Evan 1992 births Living people Canadian football defensive linemen Manitoba Bisons football players Players of Canadian football from Manitoba Canadian football people from Winnipeg Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Toronto Argonauts players Edmonton Elks players