Jahri Evans

Sport: Football

Induction Year: 2022

University: Bloomsburg

With a New Orleans Saints resume (six Pro Bowls, four All-Pro teams) that stands behind only Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Roaf among Saints’ offensive linemen, Evans carved out a tremendous career in the NFL trenches. A fourth-round pick (106th overall) from Division II Bloomsburg (Pa.), which he attended on an academic scholarship, Evans, a Division II All-American as a junior and senior, became a starter at right guard from Day One of Sean Payton’s first season with the team in 2006.

A 6-foot-4, 316-pound road-grader, Evans made the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team while starting all 16 games as the Saints reached the NFC Championship game. He started the first 114 games of his career at right guard before an ankle injury sidelined him for a Week 3 game in 2013. Evans made the Pro Bowl six consecutive seasons from 2009 – when he helped the Saints win Super Bowl XLIV – to 2014 while earning AP first-team All-Pro accolades from 2009-12.

Three months after the Saints won the Super Bowl, the team made Evans the highest-paid guard in NFL history with a seven-year, $56.7 million contract. It was money well-spent as Evans continued to be a stalwart for one of the league’s most productive offenses while blocking for record-setting quarterback Drew Brees. Evans wound up starting all 169 games he played for the Saints, missing just five because of injury, and started all 10 playoff games he played in.

In April 2020, Evans was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team of the 2010s. His six Pro Bowl appearances are tied for third in club history with Rickey Jackson and Morten Andersen behind only Brees (12) and Roaf (7). Evans played his final season with the Green Bay Packers in 2017. Born 8-22-1983 in Philadelphia, Pa.