Indiana University Athletics
Resilient Evans Not Slowing Down
6/18/2015 11:55:00 AM | Football
IUHoosiers.com
Ralston Evans went back to work last week.
Actually, the fifth-year senior offensive lineman never stopped.
Indiana football opened up summer practice, but Evans senior season began months ago in the weight room, right when his junior year ended.
Evans had to keep working because of knee injury that's plagued him throughout his Indiana career. He said the injury is frustrating because sometimes there's nothing he can do to help the lingering pain go away while he's active.
But instead of getting upset about it, Evans goes to work. He spent his offseason rehabbing just so he'd get one last chance to help Indiana to a winning season.
"I'd be lying to you if I told you it wasn't frustrating at times, but it's become part of who I am," Evans said. "You just can't let the injury define you. You have the cards you're dealt with and you play."
Nicknamed "Grandpa" by some of his teammates, Evans is the eldest offensive lineman on the team. He's one of the few remaining players recruited by both Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson and former coach Bill Lynch.
Evans has been at IU for nearly all of Wilson's tenure. His official visit was one of Wilson's first days on the job, and he hasn't looked back since.
"Like I tell people, I got to be a part of everything," Evans said. "I got to see the transition from where this team was to where it is and now where it's going."
Unfortunately, Evans was never able to make it onto the field in his first year. He needed season-ending surgery after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in a voluntary summer workout.
Evans knee hasn't quite been the same since, but he's learned to work around it.
He played in 21 of a possible 24 games over the last two seasons, making 20 starts for an offensive line setting the groundwork for one of the most prolific offenses in the country.
The lingering pain from the knee injury limits some of Evans cuts in practice, but he said it's nothing he can't handle. He goes to practice and works just the same each day.
"You'd never know unless you were told he had knee issues," senior defensive lineman Nick Mangieri said. "He's still one of the best linemen I go against. He doesn't let him slow it down at all."
Evans takes pride in his ability to play through his injury. He calls the offensive linemen "Spartans" because of the way they fight without as much recognition as some of the other skill positions.
He's learned to understand his knee's limits over the past few seasons and has developed his own ways of working around any occasional setbacks. He said he's gotten to a point where he doesn't even think about the injury when he's playing.
At the end of the 2014 season, Evans commitment was rewarded at the team banquet where he earned the team's Harold Mauro "Loyalty to IU Football" Award.
"That meant a lot to me, honestly," Evans said. "Indiana has really meant a lot to me over my five years here. The program has changed my life, so it really meant a lot to me to receive that award. Just seeing that appreciation from my teammates and my coaching staff...it meant a lot."
Now that the team is back to work for the 2015 season, Evans said he feels as good as ever after an offseason of rehabbing.
He said the current group of offensive lineman is as good as he's ever seen in his five years at Indiana and that it's "scary" to think about how good the Hoosiers could be if they play to their potential.
"As an offense, we're getting back to playing to our standard," Evans said. "We're playing the way we know we can play. I truly believe the sky is the limit for us."
