Recently-signed Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Shaq Evans is apologizing to people in the province, after questioning whether or not he wanted to return due to some people’s reaction to the Black Lives Matters movement.
In August, Evans posted to Twitter saying it was “disappointing” to hear what some Roughrider fans were saying about BLM and professional leagues across North America choosing to boycott games.
With the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor fresh in his mind, Evans said he let his emotions get the best of him.
“It was just built up frustration and I reacted too quickly. I painted the entire city and province with a broad brush and that’s not fair because most people there that I’ve met have been great,” Evans said during a press conference on Tuesday.
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“I want to take the time to apologize for what I said and if I offended anybody, I’m sorry. It was just an honest mistake. We’re all human and we sometimes say things with our emotions before we think.
“I love Regina and I love the people.”
The California native signed a one-year contract extension with the Roughriders on Christmas Eve. Evans has played two seasons in the Canadian Football League, both with the Roughriders.
In 18 games in 2019, Evans had 1,334 receiving yards on 72 receptions along with five touchdowns.
He said he thought about testing free agency, but felt Saskatchewan was where he wanted to be especially after having a strong season playing with Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo, who’s also signed through 2021.
“Knowing that he is going to be there was definitely a major factor because it is hard to develop chemistry,” Evans said. “To be able to play with a quarterback back-to-back years, it can only get better.
“We both have a desire to be better than we were in 2019 and both be All-Stars and win a championship in 2021.”
Vice-president of football operations Jeremy O’Day said the relationship between Evans and Fajardo definitely played a role in the team’s interest to re-sign its top receiver.
“Not only do they play well together, but they feel good about each other as people and they’re good teammates to each other,” O’Day said.
O’Day said the plan was to re-sign Evans all along and is happy to have him back.
“Shaq made it pretty clear that he wanted to be back. So, we just reiterated back to him the same message that we wanted him to be back,” O’Day said.
The Roughriders signed American defensive linemen Keion Adams and Freddie Bishop III on Tuesday.
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