Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
If you were ranking the emotion that Zack Evans showed on the phone call, the childlike joy was first, no question about it.
The Regina native has returned to his hometown team, inking a one-year deal with the Riders. He started his career in Riders green in 2012, but the defensive tackle was snagged by the Ottawa REDBLACKS in the expansion draft in 2014. He spent the last four years there, winning a Grey Cup in 2016.
You couldn’t see his smile through the phone call, but you could hear that joy coming through, over and over again.
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“I had no idea what was going to happen coming into it and this fell into my lap,” Evans said. “I couldn’t say no to it. It was the perfect fairytale for me.”
In second place behind that joy was a sense of relief.
“Honestly, free agency is scary,” he said. “It’s…it’s so questionable. It’s either really good for you or it could be really bad for you.”
Six years into his CFL career, Tuesday marked the first time that Evans was a free agent. In the time it took for that deal to fall into his lap, the Riders also released last year’s prized free agent, in offensive lineman Derek Dennis. Things change quickly in life. They change in fast-forward in football.
Evans sounded happy to have some certainty — as much as a football player can, anyway — in front of him.
“It was very tough to leave. I thought I’d always be a Rider and I’d retire a Rider, but hey, life throws you curveballs and you have to make the best out of it,” he said of the start of his career.
Evans makes his return to Regina after signing with the Roughriders on the first day of free agency (Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca)
“Ottawa gave me an opportunity to come in and earn a spot and become the player that I am today, with the help of my coaches. Leroy Blugh was one of those guys that believed in me and he shaped me into who I am today. I’m very thankful to Ottawa for taking me in the first place. This is a great, great experience coming home and I’m really excited to get back to work.”
Beyond the quick and happy ending to Evans’ free agency, the future is blindingly bright for him and his new/old team. On a D-line that’s bookended with Charleston Hughes and Willie Jefferson, they’ll be the face of a defence that week by week last season and now move by move through the winter, looks like what you’d get if you locked Chris Jones in a room with a canvas and palette.
“Oh it’s going to be a reaaaaally good year,” he said.
“We have a crazy amount of talent on that defensive side of the ball, not to mention the offensive side of the ball. I know knowing our o-linemen from Ottawa and how scared they were to play the Saskatchewan defence, I can’t wait to strike fear in the eyes of the whole league.”
The Riders made it to the Eastern Final last year, falling to the Argos on a last-minute play. As Evans joins them in re-tooling and looking to improve, he’s already thinking about his fit with this impressive-looking group.
“I was watching film today. I watched three or four games and I got so excited because I fit into the system absolutely perfectly,” he said. “I’m really excited to work with Chris Jones. He’s a mastermind when it comes to defence and…I can’t wait to start and understand my role and just contribute the best way I possibly can and have lots of fun.”
