Considered in 1997 one of the top prospects in Louisiana, Demetric Evans signed with Georgia, becoming the Bulldogs’ first player from the Bayou State in more than 40 years. He was one of only two true freshmen (Richard Seymour the other) of 20 in Georgia’s ’97 incoming class to see playing time that season. Even so, the unique defensive lineman would essentially be lost in the shuffle over the next four years, as part of what remains one of the Bulldogs’ all-time most talented individual units.

In 38 career games at Georgia, including just three starts, Evans totaled 86 tackles, including six for loss, two sacks, and 10 quarterback hurries. More glaring, he was coached by three different defensive coordinators and four different defensive line coaches in four seasons.

Notwithstanding, Evans not only made an active NFL roster as an undrafted free agent in 2001. But for his entire decade-long pro career, he was never placed on a practice squad. Evans played in 126 games in nine seasons (with Dallas, Washington, and San Francisco)—the fourth-highest number of NFL seasons by all former Georgia players who were undrafted.

UGASports recently caught up with Evans from his home in Allen, Texas:

UGASports: First off, how does a highly-touted recruit from the state of Louisiana not only sign with Georgia—but sign with any school besides LSU?

Evans: "Just like now, back then in the 1990s, pretty much every kid growing up in Louisiana rooted for LSU, and therefore LSU is and has always been able to keep most of the state’s top recruits. (Notably, 80 percent of Louisiana’s upper-four-star and five-star signees from 2004-2020 signed with LSU. By comparison and during the same period, 43 percent of the state of Georgia’s upper-four-star and five-star signees signed with the Bulldogs.).

When I was looking to sign somewhere in ’97, LSU wasn’t nearly the powerhouse it is now—not even close. Coach Chris Scelfo (UGA’s then-offensive line coach and Evans’ primary recruiter) was from Louisiana, and he was a great recruiter. Also, going to Georgia was an opportunity for me to do something different—and I wanted to get away anyway. Besides Georgia, I had been looking at other schools a ways from home, like Texas, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and others. Once I realized I could get my college paid for, I thought I would put myself in what I thought at the time was the best situation possible."

UGASports: Until preparing for this Q&A, we had forgotten how deep and talented Georgia’s defensive line was from 1997-2000.

Evans: Check this out: The defensive linemen who were at Georgia when I was there and wound up getting drafted in the NFL were Antonio Cochran (4th round of ’99 draft), Emarlos Leroy (6th round of ’99 draft), Marcus Stroud (1st round of ’01 draft), Richard Seymour (1st round of ’01 draft), Charles Grant, who actually came to Georgia as a running back (1st round of ’02 draft), Johnathan Sullivan (1st round of ’03 draft), and Josh Mallard (7th round of ’02 draft). Like me, Brandon Miller also went undrafted (2001), but made an NFL active roster. Paul Snellings signed as an undrafted free agent [in 1999] with the Colts and made their practice squad. Then there are Georgia defensive linemen, like David Jacobs (’98 UGA signee) and Bruce Adrine (’97 UGA signee), who, if not for severe injuries, would have likely played in the NFL, as well. You name me one school at that time with all that talent at one unit and I’d like to see it—especially when that school is known as 'Running Back U.' "

UGASports: During that period, how did you—how did any of you—see significant playing time?

Evans: "Our d-line unit was so deep and strong that I felt like there was no margin for error. I felt like, if I go into the game, I know I’ll only play about 15 plays; therefore, I cannot make a single mistake—or I’ll get pulled. Looking back on it, you really can’t play that way. You can’t get better like that. For me, I went from seeing playing time as a true freshman to where, well, forget being a starter as a senior, I couldn’t even get on the field on a consistent basis as a senior. Players don’t lose their skill sets; however, they can be placed in situations in which their skill sets cannot flourish. Some of these misplaced players will remain patient waiting for their turn; however, the next thing they know, their college career is up."

UGASports: Would you describe yourself as “misplaced” when it came to seeing playing time at Georgia?

Evans: "Yes, but I’d say I was more “depressed.” On the field, and I’m just being honest, it was depressing and frustrating for me. Let me paint a hypothetical visual: You have over 30 offers, you lost only two games your whole high school football career, and you were a three-year starter on three state championship teams. At the same time, practically your entire family has excelled or is excelling in athletics. Your dad played college football, and you have several cousins either in the NFL, playing minor league baseball, or college basketball at Florida State. And, you can hardly even get on the field at Georgia? And, at the time, it wasn’t like Georgia was playing for national championships. That might be one thing. But, at the time, we weren’t even winning the SEC East!

So, that’s why it was depressing for me playing football at Georgia. But I wasn’t upset with anyone in particular—not upset with Coach Donnan (then-head coach Jim Donnan). At times, the situation was bigger than Coach Donnan and, at the end of the day, I don’t know if he could have actually done more for me. Again, I’m not upset with anyone because, when all is said and done, the way it happened was the way it was supposed to happen."

UGASports: What happened to Georgia’s defense in 1999? It was certainly sufficient, and could be downright stingy in 1997 and 1998. However, absolutely loaded with NFL talent in 1999, the defense then curiously regressed, yielding an average of about 10 more points and 30-40 more yards per game than before.

Evans: "From 1997 to 1998, we lost a great defensive line coach, George Edwards, to the Dallas Cowboys. I still talk to Coach Edwards to this day. Still, we had most everyone else from before, including a lot of the personnel returning, and produced in ’98 the same bend-but-don’t break defense running a cover-two scheme under defensive coordinator Joe Kines. However, Coach Kines was then essentially demoted to defensive line coach the next year, and Kevin Ramsey from Tennessee was brought in. With Coach Ramsey running the defense, we turned into this aggressive style, get-up-the-field defense, playing man to man. Maybe collectively we didn’t have enough time in 1999 to learn the defense to know when to get off the field efficiently for personnel changes. It was kind of like trial and error that year. So, simply put, we gave up a lot more points and yardage in ‘99 because we had changed defenses."

UGASports: Please tell us about the 2001 NFL Draft (Evans went undrafted), yet you were still given an opportunity to play in the league.

Evans: "I remember it like it was yesterday. During the fifth and sixth rounds, four times an NFL team called me saying they were going to draft me—but no team selected me in the fifth, sixth, or seventh round. Right when the draft ended, my old defensive line coach at Georgia, Coach Edwards, he called asking me to come to Dallas as a priority free agent. He told me that he knew I could play, admired that I never transferred out of Georgia—and if I came to Dallas, I’d get the opportunity I deserved to make an NFL roster. And I believed Coach Edwards."

UGASports: Simply, how does someone not start in college, yet wind up playing in the NFL for a decade? And, how did your NFL career ultimately end?

Evans: "Everything I learned and sacrificed in college, it transitioned in the NFL. If you work hard, you may not see immediate results; however, your luck will change. It never changed for me while I was at Georgia. But I continued to work hard, and my luck ultimately changed with me getting an opportunity to play in the NFL.

While playing with the San Francisco 49ers in the 2010 season, I tore my MCL for the second time in my pro career. Still, I got a call from, again, George Edwards, who was then the Buffalo Bills’ defensive coordinator. He said he’d bring me to Buffalo, but I told him, “Coach, I wouldn’t pass a physical.” Right then, I decided to hang it up—and that was that."

UGASports: Although you departed Georgia in 2001 without a degree, you wound up earning two of them, correct?

Evans: "Yes. Like a lot of guys, when I first left the league, I remained motivated and was still a high achiever. I wanted to make sure I set an academic standard in my household for my children. I still needed about seven classes to finish my undergrad. So, I took courses at San Jose State University, where my classes transferred into UGA. I walked in December of 2011. I later got my Master’s Degree online at the University of Alabama."

UGASports: Tell us about where you live, your family, and what you’ve been doing since you retired from the NFL.

Evans: "I’ve had a residence in either Flower Mound or Allen (both Dallas suburbs) since 2002. My wife, Aungel, is a physician who has her own practice. She loves to work, and I support her career. We have two boys, Noah and Logan, and I just basically pour into them. I always wanted to not be an overbearing parent, but hands-on enough to where I’m there to protect and provide for them. That’s something I didn’t have growing up. For the past few years, I’ve also worked with Rivals for its camp series as the defensive line coach."

UGASports: At the Rivals camps, what do you try to relay to/teach the kids?

Evans: "I can help a d-lineman identify his true skill set and his God-gifted ability—and tell him what kind of defense he should go play in. I tell them I’m not there to get them in shape, but to teach a couple of techniques so they can showcase their skill set and put better film out there via Rivals and social media. For those prospects with offers, I tell them that, just because they got a scholarship doesn’t guarantee they are going to the NFL, will be a starter in college, or even see the field at the college level. And, they need to know that offers can always be taken back. For those with no or few offers, I tell them this is an opportunity to start getting offers. And we go from there."

UGASports: From what we know, you also routinely ask kids at the camps what schools they’re looking at. Can you give an example of a defensive line prospect who wants to attend, say, “State U”—but you feel the kid actually wouldn’t be a very good fit at “State U”?

Evans: "Definitely. I’d tell him that “State U” runs a 3-4 [defensive formation], and he’s not a defensive end in a 3-4. Rather, he’s a much better fit as a left end in a 4-3. Now, why would I say that? Probably because I can see by the kid’s hips and his flexibility. Maybe if I look a little closer, I see where the kid might be able to slide in on third down to apply rush on the guard. Still, at the end of the day, he’s definitely not a 3-4 end."

UGASports: What do you feel recruits nowadays are lacking, especially compared to when you were coming out as a highly touted prospect?

Evans: "I think it was more prevalent back then for kids to grow up in a household where the notion was life is a do-it-yourself project. In other words, your parents can only take you so far. At some point, these kids have to do it for themselves. But if you grow up in a household where you’ve been told all your life that you’re the best, and that you don’t have to play if you’re just a little bit hurt (because you’re told that you cannot be injured and earn a college scholarship), you’re setting up that kid for failure. And when he fails, he’s probably going to fail tremendously—and it might be at a point of no return. A lot of kids today have been pampered and catered to, and groomed to win as an individual. Society has changed the game of football for the better, but it comes to a point where you have to develop some type of toughness—mentally and physically."

UGASports: What about on the contrary? What do you see out of highly recruited prospects in which they, perhaps, receive little to no credit for?

Evans: "Most people think that all recruits are all about themselves—“me, me, me.” Granted, most kids will tell you they use college to go to the league, which is true—but only to some degree. Although a lot of these kids are groomed to win as an individual, most of them are used to winning—and winning at a high level. So honestly, I think most of these recruits truly want to go and help their college team win, especially if they come from a high school program that only knows to win."

UGASports: Looking back on your college career, do you have any resentment towards UGA since you seemingly feel like you were underused as a player?

Evans: "Not at all. UGA is a great university with great people. Personally, I'm part of the McGill Society and I donate to the student body at UGA. My wife and I were at the [Texas] A&M game this past year. So no, I don’t hold any grudges or bitterness for what happened to me, because, at the end of the day, you always have to evaluate yourself—and ask, what part did I play in that?

For me, I decided to attend and play football at Georgia, and although it might not have seemed like the best decision for me in the subsequent years, and I thought about transferring at one point, I still saw it through. So I ultimately had control of the situation. It just wasn’t meant to be."

UGASports: Finally, with the ongoing unrest going on, Demetric, you seem like the type of person who might have an inspiring viewpoint regarding the country’s current situation. Is there anything you’d like to add before we end?

Evans: "Yes, I would. I think that people were created to love other people—and things, tools, were created to be used by people to advance themselves and society. Now, perhaps more than ever, it seems people are more so loving things than people, and more so using people than things. We need to get back to how we were designed to be successful. Our country has been so far out of bounds in our society. We need to get back out on the playing field, and I think that starts with all of us. In their own way, sports govern society to a certain degree. So, we, and that includes sports, athletic programs, need to get back to governing these kids to understand to love people over things—and get back in bounds for what’s important to our society."