Cincir Evans — A Game Greater than Self

Over one million students participate in high school football every year. Of that number, statistics show that 7.3 percent of those students go on to play college football at any level. An even smaller number, 2.9 percent, will play college football at the Division One level for a school like the University of Memphis. Once an athlete reaches the collegiate level, he/she must endure countless hours of practice, study hall, and rehabbing. With only 24 hours in a day, a student athlete’s social and recreational time are often placed on the back burner. Considering the Memphis Football schedule only allots 12 total hours of guaranteed playing time with each new season, it’d be natural to assume the same athletes that quite literally claw their way to this moment would want all the glory they can get for themselves. Fifth-year senior Cincir Evans looks at his final season in a Memphis uniform in a different light, however.

On Wednesday, just before heading with his teammates to grab lunch at Crumpy’s, Evans graciously spoke with Bluff City Media about the importance of leaving a legacy at his hometown school. Growing up between Memphis and Blytheville, Arkansas, Evans played his high school football just miles from the U of M campus at White Station High School. Following a spectacular senior season that landed him First-Team 8-6A All-Region honors, Evans committed to play for Jamey Chadwell at Coastal Carolina. “It gave me back home vibes when I went to Coastal,” Evans said, “It’s in a small town where everybody knows each other.”

After redshirting his first season on campus, Evans started in 11 games in his second year as a Chanticleer. Recording 42 total tackles, 3.5 TFLs, one interception, and one forced fumble, Evans helped lay the foundation at a school that would end up going 22-3 over the next two seasons. Cincir’s desire to return home, though, ultimately moved him to enter the transfer portal and join an unfamiliar staff at Memphis. “When (Norvell’s staff) ended up leaving, I had already decided I was coming to Memphis,” Evans explained, “I had to reintroduce myself and meet all the new coaches all over again, but Coach Silverfield welcomed me.”

Returning home to Memphis in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately influenced Evans’ mentality to change for the better, he said. “When I came back to Memphis, that made me realize that this is real life; you’ve got to be a man,” Evans said, “Everything in life isn’t going to go your way, and Memphis gives you that type of energy. Nobody’s going to give you anything, it’s not going to just come easy and you’ve got to work for what you want and take responsibility.” After Evans tore his MCL and Meniscus in 2020, he used that same blue-collar work mentality to rehab his way back to appearing in 11 games for the Tigers in 2021. As a redshirt senior in 2022, Evans’ production finally returned to a level before his knee injury. Appearing in all 13 games on the Tigers’ schedule, Evans totaled 35 tackles, 2 TFLs, 3 PBUs, and an interception on the year.

For the first time since a redshirt freshman at Coastal Carolina, Evans is now a game-to-game starter for the Tigers. When he had the opportunity to talk about his personal accolades on Wednesday, Evans elected to take another route. He told Bluff City Media that leaving the program in a better position and honoring his family were his top priorities while playing his final season inside Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. “It will mean everything to us as a team and to us seniors to leave the program in a (high place) like it was when we came in,” Evans said, “even the transfers that came in the program, to finish, and leave the program in great hands knowing that we did something as a unit that leaves a great foundation for the young guys.”

The Tigers have what many are calling the biggest game in the Ryan Silverfield era on Friday. The reigning conference champions, Tulane, will arrive looking for their first victory against the Tigers in Memphis since the 1998 season. For the program to once again reach the heights it experienced in that special 2019 season, Evans expressed the team’s desire to simply go 1-0 every week. “This game is the most important game not because it’s Tulane or because they’re the reigning champs, but because it is the next game,” he told Bluff City Media, “It means everything to us to defend our home turf in Orange Mound.” Cincir additionally spoke on showing that same devotion to making his parents and siblings proud. “I’m very grateful for my parents and everything they’ve done for me, sacrificing for me and all of my siblings, just making it the best life we could possibly have.”

Throughout the season, coaches and players alike have consistently mentioned that the aura around the locker room feels different this season. “Since Silverfield’s first year, we have grown as a unit, as a brotherhood,” Cincir said, “People are more open to talk to each other. Each year that (Silverfield) has been here, we’ve started building a better culture — loving each other, talking to each other, hanging out with one another.” In an era of transfer portalling, NIL, and opt-outs, it appears that the Memphis Football team still has a sense of “old school” within its locker room. One could make a good case that atmosphere is fostered by “team first” veterans like Cincir Evans.

Time will tell if the “2023 Tigers” will go on to replace the “2019 Tigers” as the standard around the Memphis program. Friday’s colossal matchup against the Green Wave will go a long way in determining that fate. For a team that is seemingly more unified than ever, the Tigers are prepared to fight until the game clock hits zero. “Whatever we’re lacking (offense or defense), we want to consistently hold the fort down for each other. We don’t care how we get it done as long as we win. Fight for each other, love each other, keep fighting until the game is over.”