You Remember the Scene in the Replacements, Evers Plays With Heart
STILLWATER – You may remember the scene, most football fans fall on one side or the other when it comes to the movie, The Replacements. They either like it or they hate it. The scene is when the head coach of the Washington Federals, McGinty, played by Gene Hackman, has to tell his quarterback Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) the regular quarterback crossed the picket line and Falco is out. He tells Falco he has something that Martell (the regular quarterback) doesn’t have. He tells Falco he has heart.
Later at halftime of the climactic game with Dallas and with Washington behind, McGinty is asked by the sideline reporter what Washington will need to win the game. He looks into the camera and says, “heart,” and then he pounds his chest with his play sheet and says, “miles and miles of heart.”
Falco is watching and he goes to the stadium to save the day.
Brendon Evers never leaves the stadium. The Cowboys senior defensive tackle from Bixby is a talented player that has battled injuries, especially shoulder injuries, but he has always fought through and given the Cowboys his best. He is one tough player. In the Cheez-It Bowl win over Miami, Fla. last December Evers went out with a knee injury. He missed most of the second half and afterwards in the locker room told me that he thought it was a torn ACL. I didn’t know what team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mark Pascale thought. He almost always knows. Either way, it wasn’t a torn ACL, no surgery needed, and Evers has worked his usual all out to get ready for an all-out season. Heart kicking in again.
"He's had his best summer ever. I saw him in the weight room every day, even on off days working on flexibility,” said head coach Mike Gundy. “He's very mature. He's been around a long time. His attitude is great, and I think he's had his best summer. In most cases, you almost always see that in the fall."
I think you can count on that. The 6-2, Evers has trimmed down from his 305 to 295-pounds. He is the quickest he has been in his college career. He is ready to add on to 22 career tackles, sack, and four quarterback hurries. If the numbers sound modest, Evers plays inside and takes up blockers, and sets up teammates to make plays. I’ve got a feeling that he is going to make more plays on his own this season and still spill plenty to his teammates.
"You know, I knew we had a talented team coming into this year and last year ended in a very bad way, I didn't want it to. I thought it was a season-ending injury, turns out it wasn't,” Evers said thinking back to the ice on the knee and the crutches he left using to get to the bus at the Citrus Bowl Stadium. “Just took that gift for what it was and knew that this team was going to need me to play a big role this year holding down the middle of the defense, and luckily, I had a lot of coaches and a lot of teammates that have confidence in me and have pushed me to be the best I could be.”
Nothing for granted, and spilling out all the heart that his coaches, teammates, and yes, some of us in the media have always known he had, miles and miles of heart.
“Realizing that this might be my last year, my last go and everything, I promised coach Gundy and everybody else that I was going to help them win a title coming in here. That goal's still on the table.
I’ve just hit a new stride. I've had some great teammates and some great coaches, everybody from Tanner (McCalister) to Kolby (Harvell-Peel), and all the guys in the back, our linebackers Malcolm (Rodriguez), Devin (Harper), and all the guys in our D-line room, every guy that’s coming back, they've all pushed me to a new level that I didn't know I had in myself. I'm forever grateful and I hope I can repay that debt this year."
He can and all he needs to do is bring that Brendon Evers heart every day and twice on Saturdays.