Heath Evans is going into his eighth season as an NFL fullback and his fourth with the New England Patriots, the most successful franchise in the game. He has a Super Bowl championship ring. But just a little more than nine years ago, he was a 230-pound sophomore Auburn defensive tackle.
By the end of the 1999 season, Tommy Tuberville’s first at Auburn, Evans would establish himself as the best running back on the team. Though he was signed by Terry Bowden to be an athletic fullback, down the stretch in that season, he was Auburn’s only effective runner at tailback. By the time he left, Evans was one of the more popular players in recent Auburn history.
Before that happened, there was the defensive tackle saga. Things didn’t go well for Evans, a sophomore, in the early days of the 1999 season, and he was moved to the strange and puzzling position. Though Evans didn’t play a game there and was soon returned to the backfield, it stung. But the hard times, Evans says, eventually made him a better man.
“God uses heartache,” Evans said in an interview with AuburnUndercover.com. “He used it for me to become the man I needed to become. I started the prayer meetings and some of the strong parts of FCA. God does things for a reason.”
When Evans was a junior, he gave up his ambitions to run the ball and mostly paved the way for tailback Rudi Johnson to have one of the great seasons in Auburn history as the Tigers won the West and played in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.
Today, Evans is a fullback on a team that knows little but winning. He signed in November of 2005 and helped win a Super Bowl. The Patriots were unbeaten last season until they were stunned by the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. It was, Evans says, one of the more bitter losses in his playing career. But playing for the Patriots, he says, has been the experience of a lifetime.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air,” Evans said. “I kind of was in the steppingstone era at Auburn, where we really made that transfer. There were some great winning years under Coach Bowden, but my freshman year we were horrible and he gets fired. Those two years with Coach Tuberville were tough times, especially the first one. I missed the mentality they have established there now.”
Evans could see it coming even then, especially in the work ethic being demanded by strength and conditioning coach Kevin Yoxall.
“Being around Coach Yox for two years, I got a taste of it,” Evans said, “but then I was gone.”
Evans left after his junior season and was drafted in the third round by the Seattle Seahawks, but he would be tested again, watching more than playing. He signed with the Miami in Dolphins in 2005, but the Dolphins were going through a transition of their own and that didn’t go all that well either. Finally, before that season was over, he was released and the Patriots came calling.
“When you see a whole coaching staff be single-minded in their approach, that’s what it’s all about,” Evans said. “It makes it enjoyable. Obviously, being a part, you have your key role every single week you are asked to do that is going to help your team win. You know what is expected. The consistency on a daily basis is what makes it a joy."
“I always know what to expect from the head coach, the owner, my position coach, my teammates. It’s consistency that breeds success.”
The bond the Patriots players have with each other, Evans says, makes winning even more special.
“When you win something with a bunch of bozos, it’s nice, but it’s not the same,” Evans said. “When we got back to the SEC (Championship Game) at Auburn, it was sweet because we had been through so much together as a group of guys."
These are happy days for Evans and his family. His wife, Beth, grew up in Auburn. They have two daughters – Ava, 4, and Naomi, 20 months. Life is good. As he heads into his eighth NFL season, Evans knows the end of his football career isn’t far away. But he’s not ready yet.
“I always said I wanted 10,” Evans said. “If you get 10 years in this league, you’ve accomplished something special. I’m healthy. My body is in good shape. Where else can you make this kind of living and have this kind of fun?"
