Progress Name of the Game for Gridder Darnell Evans

Darnell Evans began practicing this week for his Shaw University encore.
 
The former standout is coming off a 2010 football season in which he led the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association with six interceptions and was the only freshman named to the all-conference First Team.
 
The cornerback helped the Bears to their third CIAA title in four years and earned the 2010 Defensive Rookie of the Year.
 
Already named as a Consensus Draft Service Preseason All-American First Team selection—one of only four sophomores on the first team—it's easy to see that Evans was destined for an impressive collegiate career.
 
Except he almost never gave himself the chance for such accomplishments.
 
Had he not refocused his academic energies at County College of Morris, then spent a second year in the Shaw classroom, Evans would've been left imagining success instead of realizing it.
 
"My motivation came from the feeling that I didn't accomplish what I wanted to in high school," Evans said. "I wasn't done on the football field. I needed to get on a team and show people what I can do. I've always felt like I had it in me."
 
Evans missed half his senior season with a hip injury, though poor grades kept colleges away. CCM, a school without a football program, afforded him the chance to study minus the gridiron distractions.
 
"He was talented and versatile," said Madison High School head football coach Chris Kubik, who led the Dodgers to a 2010 North 2, Group II NJSIAA state championship. "He was a fast, tough kid. It's not shocking that he's having a great college career."
 
His credits transferred to Shaw in the fall of 2009, but Evans sat out that season by NCAA rules. He earned a spot on the team the following season as a walk-on.
 
"He could've easily have given up, but he wasn't satisfied with what he accomplished in high school," said Toney Evans, Darnell's father. "I always told him to just give it your all, and you can never say you didn't try."
 
Fully matriculated, the 5-foot-8, 181-pound Evans mixes school studies with gaining strength and getting out of his breaks quicker. Satisfied with his coverage skills—he broke up 10 passes last season—he wants to become more aggressive.
 
"I have to back it up now," he said. "There are no excuses. I've been working hard all summer. If I don't produce, it's a flop. I don't want to be a one-hit wonder."
 
Along the way to striving to become the next Charles Woodson or Deion Sanders—his two idols—Evans became well-rounded. He's 22 credits toward an elementary education degree and has developed a love of history.
 
He hopes the kids he'll teach won't repeat his mistakes.
 
"I messed up in high school, so I had to start later," Evans said. "Now that I have this chance, it's time to perform on the football field and in the classroom. I came from the bottom to the top and worked my butt off. I also want to show the people in Madison that I wasn't an average player."