Technically speaking, Mike Evans became a San Francisco 49er in March, when the team announced the signing of him to a three-year contract. But technicalities be damned; The day Evans truly became a 49er was just before the middle of Sunday’s game against the Seahawks.
Just before halftime, broadcast cameras caught Evans chatting a bit with Seattle corner Trevon Diggs. While it’s unclear what the two said to each other, it became abundantly clear that the Niners catcher won the back-and-forth when he turned Diggs to read his team’s plate as if to say, “Who are you?” The move prompted Diggs to throw a one-handed shove at Evans, who laughed as he walked away.
This viral moment was just one (albeit notable) part of Evans’ complete arrival with the Niners. In just one game, he’s already surpassed another aging future Hall of Famer the Niners once signed to bolster a Super Bowl-aspiring offense, Randy Moss. In his first taste of this bloody NFC West rivalry, he had seven catches for 113 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he did all this while his body continued to recover from two broken ribs. This past week was a truly heroic feat as he played in visible agony at the end of every game he played. He still needed the protective vest under his jersey to keep his injury from getting worse this week, but if there were any lingering effects of an injury that would keep anyone else bedridden, he didn’t show it Sunday.
In fact, he was in a pretty jovial mood at the podium after the 32-29 victory, especially when a reporter asked him about that mini-confrontation with Diggs.
“I honestly didn’t know it was him, because in the headset it’s hard to tell sometimes.” » Evans said with a laugh. “And we were just talking trash and I think I pushed him and I was like, ‘Who are you?’ And I looked to make sure and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s fucking King Diggs.’ And then he beat me up – that should have been a penalty – but it is what it is.”
Between those moments on and off the field, Sunday was already enough to make Evans a 49ers fan favorite for life.
Gn sports
