Give Evans a break

Published 12:00 am Thursday, February 13, 2014

Poor Rashaan Evans.

Last Wednesday, the Auburn High School star linebacker made one choice and it’s come back to bight him in a terrible way.

Evans chose to play for the Alabama Crimson Tide instead of his hometown university, and since then, he’s been getting a lot of colorful backlash as a result.

According to an ESPN story, Evans said someone wrote an article telling Auburn fans to not support his family’s business.

Also in the same article, Evans said folks on Instagram are saying they hope he will tear his ACL in game one.

When I read this, I was surprised to say the least.

Listen people, he made a decision that will ultimately get him a college degree and the opportunity to play football at the next level.

Evans said the decision is what is best for him.

Evans is the No. 52 overall recruit in ESPN’s 300 class and the No. 2 outside linebacker. He considered Alabama, Auburn and UCLA.

Alabama and Auburn were highly recruiting Evans, according to reports.

“I knew people would be mad and say stuff,” Evans told TideSports.com. “I didn’t think it would be like this. It wasn’t a complete shock to me, but I guess that’s just how fans are.”

Luckily, support from Alabama fans for Evans has been good.

All of this reminds me of the response fans had after the 2013 Iron Bowl against kicker Cade Foster.

Even to this day, I can’t believe anybody would be filled with so much hate.

All of this goes back to the fierce rivalry in the state.

Where it lies is between the fans, not the players.

So, let’s keep it that way and not direct any more hate toward Evans as he gets set to begin what I hope will be an illustrious career in college and pro football.