Mark Evans II (born October 11, 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

Edmonton Elks 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 (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

of 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

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

Arkansas–Pine Bluff The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a Public University, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Founded in 1873, it is the second oldest public college or univer ...

Early life

Evans was not allowed to play football growing up due to weight restrictions, so he did not begin playing until the seventh grade. Instead, he began

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

until he was able to start playing football. Evans initially committed to play football at

Navarro College Navarro College is a public community college in Texas with its main campus in Corsicana and branches in Mexia, Midlothian, and Waxahachie. The college has an annual student enrollment of more than 9,000 students. The Corsicana campus has ...

, though later was recruited to play at the

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a Public University, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Founded in 1873, it is the second oldest public college or univer ...

College career

Evans committed to play college football at

. As a freshman, he played in nine games, and during his sophomore season, he started in all eleven games at left tackle, contributing to an offensive line that allowed the second-lowest amount of sacks in the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

(SWAC). Although the 2020 season was postponed, Evans played with Arkansas–Pine Bluff at

SWAC championship game The SWAC Championship Game, officially the Cricket Wireless SWAC Championship Game, is an American college football game that is held annually on the first Saturday in December by the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to determine its foot ...

against

Alabama A&M Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M or AAMU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. It was one of about 180 " normal s ...

in 2021. he played as a redshirt junior, where he allowed one sack and won the Willie Roaf Award, which honors Arkansas's top offensive linemen. During his senior year, he started in nine games as part of an offensive line unit dubbed 'The Moving Crew' and only allowed two sacks. Evans participated in the

East-West Shrine Bowl East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

, the HBCU Legacy Bowl, and the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

. He was the first Arkansas-Pine Bluff player to be invited to the combine since Terron Armstead in 2013.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

On April 30, 2023, Evans signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Evans was waived by the Saints on August 29, 2023. He signed to the Saints

practice squad In gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. On September 4, 2023, Evans was waived before being re-signed to the practice squad on September 27. Following the end of the 2023 regular season, the Saints signed him to a reserve/future contract on January 8, 2024. On July 28, 2024, Evans was waived by the Saints. However, following the release of

Mason Fairchild Mason Fairchild (born August 30, 2001) is an American professional football tight end for the DC Defenders of the United Football League (UFL). He played in college at Kansas. Early life Fairchild grew up in Andale, Kansas and attended Andale ...

on August 7, Evans was re–signed by New Orleans. He was waived on August 27.

Arlington Renegades

On January 29, 2025, Evans signed with the

Arlington Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The Renegades compete in the United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded as the Dallas Renegades by Vince McMah ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He was released on March 20, 2025.

Edmonton Elks

On April 17, 2025, Evans signed with the

of the

(CFL).

Personal life

Evans has a younger brother Jessie, who plays

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 ...

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

. After

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...

destroyed his family's home in 2017, he was temporarily homeless and eventually lived with four other people in a one-bedroom apartment during his senior year of high school.

References

External links

Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans II, Mark 1999 births Living people American football offensive tackles New Orleans Saints players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Players of American football from Houston Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football players