Back in April, Wingate punter Ethan Evans enjoyed the thrill of hearing his name called during the NFL Draft.
Last week, Evans officially signed with the team that picked him in the seventh round.
Evans inked a four-year rookie contract with the Los Angeles Rams, worth $3,948,000 (including a $108,000 signing bonus), according to OverTheCap.com and team reports. Evans, a Mount Airy native and North Surry High graduate, was the 223rd overall pick and one of three punters selected. He was the first NCAA Division II player drafted this season.
A ‘physical specimen’
Evans has been impressing his new team thus far. Videos of the punter deadlifting 770 pounds and other feats of weight-room strength have been making the rounds on social media.
“Listed at 6-3, 235 pounds, Evans is bigger than most of the Rams’ draft class — save for the handful of offensive and defensive linemen selected,” wrote JB Scott in a post on Turf Show Times, which covers the team. “You’d expect Evans’ frame at off-ball linebacker more than punter, and that’s part of the reason why LA was willing to spend a late-round pick to acquire him. By all accounts the prospect is a physical specimen.”
Evans had a banner senior season at Wingate, earning first-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and D2CAA. He also was first-team all-conference and all-region. D2Football.com named Evans the Special Teams Player of the Week twice in 2022.
Wingate enjoyed a historic season, winning 11 games and advancing to the Division II quarterfinals. Special teams played a big role.
“There is nobody more deserving of this than Ethan Evans,” Wingate head coach Joe Reich said shortly after the draft. “He has great natural gifts, but they are nothing compared to his work ethic and desire to be the best he can be.”
Evans averaged nearly 46 yards on 77 punts in 2022, second in the nation. He put 39 kicks inside opponents’ 20. Serving as the primary placekicker, he missed just one of 44 PATs and connected on 10 field goals.
Per Evans’ Wikipedia page, he finished his Wingate career having punted the ball 186 times for 8,027 yards (averaging 43.2 yards per punt) with a long of 72 yards.
Was ready to go the free-agent route
NFL teams had Evans on their radars heading into the April draft, but Evans still wasn’t sure he’d get selected.
“I had the mindset that I had the abilities to get drafted,” Evans told media during his introductory press conference with LA. “But I also kind of knew there was a chance that I wouldn’t. I had it set in my mind that if I had to go into free agency and go compete that’s what I’ll do … I am just so happy and blessed the Rams took a shot on me.”
Evans said he didn’t sleep much during the three days of the draft. He was at home with family and friends when the phone call came from LA.
“We were just sitting around the TV patiently. I had gotten a few calls saying, ‘Hey if nothing happens in the draft we’d love to take you as a free agent,’” Evans said. “Right after I got off one of the phone calls, the Rams called and said, ‘Hey we’re picking you.’ And the roof of the house got blown off.”
Evans considered himself more of a placekicker than punter in high school. He boomed a 51-yard field goal for North Surry and set school records for most career field goals (17) and PATs (77) while getting named to the East-West All-Star game.
Loves ‘kicking the crap out of the ball’
Reich made Evans the Bulldogs’ starting punter during Evans’ freshman season. “Eventually I got to the point where my punting was better than my kickoffs,” Evans said. “I was a soccer player for 15 years and I was a goalie, so I just love running up and kicking the crap out of the ball.”
On his Instagram account, Evans refers to himself as the “4th down QB for the @rams.” He will wear No. 42.
Another kicker from a North Carolina school was picked up by the Rams after the draft, NC State PK Christopher Dunn, a Lou Groza award winner. Dunn was released earlier this month, though, as the Rams opted to go with Oklahoma State rookie Tanner Brown as their primary placekicker.
The Rams held mini-camp last week and will open the season Sept. 10 at Seattle. Los Angeles does not play the Carolina Panthers this season. The Panthers are coached by Frank Reich, the brother of Wingate’s long-time head coach.
Evans is the second Wingate player to get drafted by the NFL. The first was David Jones, picked in the fifth round by the New Orleans Saints in 2007. Evans also was picked by the Pittsburgh Maulers this past spring during the USFL Draft.
