Evans, Quinn

Quinn Evans was a local football player who spent time at both Hamilton and Basha High School. He attended Hamilton from 2004-2006, and then transferred to Basha for his senior season. As a junior defensive back at Hamilton, Evans earned All-Region honors and tallied 64 tackles, 9 pass deflections, 3 sacks, and 1 interception. After transferring to Basha, he was ranked in the top 20 of all players in Arizona going into his senior season. He was a two way star at Basha. As a defensive back he posted 56 tackles, 9 pass deflections, and an interception, good enough for a second team All-State selection. He played running back on offense, a position for which he earned 1st team All-State honors by rushing for nearly a thousand yards and scoring 9 touchdowns. He led the Bears with 1,369 all purpose yards.
Evans elected to attend Stanford University and continue playing football. A defensive back and member of the special teams units, Evans appeared in every game his redshirt sophomore year. He appeared ready for a breakout junior year when disaster struck. Evans suffered a serious hip injury before his junior year. Told by doctors that he would never play football again, Evans medically retired from football and began to prepare himself for a career in medical sales (espn.com).
But a funny thing began to happen. As Evans continued his school work, his hip began to feel better. He decided to start training again, and his hip grew stronger. Pleased by the turn of events, Evans wanted a shot at one more football season. There was only one issue with his ambition: because he had medically retired from Stanford, Evans could not return to the team. He would need another school to offer him a scholarship. Northwestern University coach Pat Fitzgerald was happy to oblige.
Having recruited Evans out of high school, Fitzgerald was pleased when Evans expressed interest in playing his final season for the Wildcats. The Stanford transfer was a key member of Northwestern's secondary, recording 38 tackles and 3 pass deflections. While injuries robbed Evans of what was a promising college career, his hard work and perseverance blessed him with one final, unexpected season.