Joe Evans (born June 29, 1999) is an American 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He played college football for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

Early life

Evans attended high school at

Ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...

. In Evans junior season after being forced to play quarterback after injuries to the starter, he completed 106 of his 178 passes for 1,276 yards and 17 touchdowns, while also adding 439 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Coming out of high school, Evans decided to walk-on to play

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 ...

for the

College career

In Evans true freshman season in 2018, he did not appear in any games and would redshirt. In the 2019 season, Evans posted seven tackles with four being for a loss, and four sacks. During the 2020 season, Evans was put on scholarship by the Hawkeyes. In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Evans tallied seven tackles with two going for a loss, a sack, and a pass deflection. In 2021, Evans would breakout notching 33 tackles with seven being for a loss, seven sacks, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble. In week one of the 2022 season, Evans tallied two sacks, and a safety as he helped Iowa to a 7–3 win over

South Dakota State South Dakota State University (SDSU or SD State) is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota, United States. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest university and is the second oldest continually operating universit ...

. In week eight, Evans sacked quarterback

C. J. Stroud Coleridge Bernard "C. J." Stroud IV (born October 3, 2001) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes f ...

, while also forcing a fumble which he returned 12 yards for his first career touchdown against #2 Ohio State. In the 2022 season, Evans totaled 41 tackles with going for a loss, sacks, and two forced fumbles. For his performance in the 2022 season, Evans was named second team all Big-10. In week 12 of the 2023 season, Evans notched four tackles with going for a loss, a sack, a safety, and three pass deflections, as he helped the Hawkeyes beat

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, 15–13. In the

Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Pop-Tarts Bowl and Florida Classic. The g ...

, Evans notched a career-high four sacks in a loss to

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. For the 2023 season, Evans made 46 tackles with going for a loss, sacks, four pass deflections, and a forced fumble.

Professional career

Evans signed with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 3, 2024. He was waived on August 27, and re-signed to the practice squad. He was released on September 24.

References

External links

Iowa Hawkeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Joe 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Iowa Sportspeople from Ames, Iowa American football defensive ends Ames High School alumni Iowa Hawkeyes football players Baltimore Ravens players