Michael Evans-Douglas uses his senior year to honor his family
November 28, 2014
By Annie Dunbar
In addition to reminiscing on his time spent on the gridiron, one UK football player used his senior season to bring honor and pride to his family.
Defensive tackle Michael Evans-Douglas, who is from Largo, Fla., earned a starting spot his senior season in the second year of the Mark Stoops era. Evans-Douglas finished the season with 20 solo tackles and 13 assisted tackles for a combined 33 on the season.
During the peak of his football career, Evans-Douglas decided to make an addition to the name stitched on the back of his jersey. Since Evans-Douglas is his legal last name, he decided to change the back of his uniform from Douglas to Evans-Douglas to represent his mother’s side of the family. He debuted the new look for the Cats’ matchup with Louisiana-Monroe on October 11.
The reason behind Evans-Douglas’ desire to leave his mark on the UK football program under his legal last name is derived from growing up in a single parent home.
“My family means everything to me. I have a tattoo on the inside of my arm that says ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and I really feel like my family was that village,” Evans-Douglas said.
That village, is an athletic one that includes his mother, Charlene Evans, his grandfather, and two great uncles.
“Everybody had a piece in my upbringing,” Evans-Douglas said. “I really feel like I’m truly a child that came from a village that cares.”
His grandfather, Charles Evans, and great uncle Richard Evans both played football at Virginia State while his other great uncle, Robert Evans, played Negro League baseball for the Raleigh Tigers.
“They played sports back when everything was segregated,” Evans-Douglas said.
Since his family played athletics when the United States was racially segregated, Evans-Douglas wanted to give them an opportunity they never had – to see their name on the back of a jersey on television.
“They had college offers and played in college but it’s just something different to see your name on ESPN on the back of the jersey,” Evans-Douglas said.
Evans-Douglas talked to his family beforehand. They had reservations, but he decided to go through with it anyway.
“My mom didn’t want me to do it at first because she was skeptical with luck. ‘You know, you’ve been doing good with Douglas all this time, it doesn’t really matter,’” Evans-Douglas said.
Bad luck didn’t affect Evans-Douglas in the slightest.
He was involved in two notable game changing plays during the season. The first came in the Cats’ 45-38 victory over South Carolina. He batted Gamecock quarterback Dylan Thompson’s pass into the air, which gave defensive end Bud Dupree the opportunity to snag it out of the air for a pick six.
Another notable play was in UK’s season finale showdown with in-state rival Louisville. In a hostile environment at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Dupree knocked the ball loose out of the hands of Cardinals quarterback Kyle Bolin. Evans-Douglas scooped up the fumble and returned it for a 30 yard touchdown.
Those memorable plays not only engraved Evans-Douglas’ mark on the UK football program, but also gave the Evans family the opportunity to see their family name on ESPN, just like Evans-Douglas had hoped for.
“They were all thrilled about it,” he said. “They were really happy just to see the name.”
Ultimately, Evans-Douglas received the reaction he desired.
“The real reason was to give them a sense of pride and happiness, and I think I did that,” Evans-Douglas said.
