Murray Wood: A party 100 years in the making
Murray Wood and a couple of hundred others attended a birthday party on the weekend for a woman who turned 100, and cele...
It wasn’t a quick decision by Desmond Evans to join the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The defensive end said he received about 20 calls from the CFL club over a nine-month span before he eventually gave them the answer they were looking for.
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“I got cut from the Tennessee Titans and then went back home for three months,” the athlete from Sanford, N.C., said.
“I didn’t know if I was going to play football or not. They were calling me non-stop and I thought, ‘Hey, let me give it a shot.’ I’m only 23 years old. Let’s do it. I signed the contract and came down here and am ready to do it now.”
Evans had already gotten a job outside of football in sales, saying he was helping Fortune 500 companies scale their business.
“You know in sales you make a lot of money, but it’s a chance to play football and something I love doing. I only have 10 or seven years left to play football so I came out here to do what I love doing,” Evans said. “I can do (sales) after.”
The 6-foot-6, 255-pound Evans joins the Riders after playing five seasons with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. Coming out of high school, Evans was considered the top defensive lineman prospect in the United States.
He went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft but did sign with the Titans, eventually playing in three pre-season games before he was released.
Evans has been running with the starters throughout camp opposite the newly acquired veteran James Vaughters. He narrowly missed two sacks in the pre-season game against the Calgary Stampeders but was finally able to get a quarterback to the ground in the game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Saskatoon.
“I missed two so I was like I have to make it up this last game. It felt wonderful. I felt good getting another sack,” Evans said.
“It’s like a rush. It’s like getting a pick but it’s like I am better than the guy they put in front of me and I got to the quarterback in two seconds. I can’t explain it, it’s a good feeling.”
Evans will look to remain with the starters once training camp ends on Friday, with final cuts expected to be announced over the weekend.
Saskatchewan will have a bye week to open the season before facing the B.C. Lions on June 13.
Klassen comes home
The Riders announced Big River’s Connor Klassen will join his home province team.
Klassen was on the field for Saskatchewan after the offensive lineman signed a contract. He was a member of the Regina Thunder from 2019-22 before joining the University of Regina Rams for two seasons. He won a Prairie Football Conference title with the Thunder and also won the Hardy Cup as a member of the Rams.
He was selected by the Lions in the fourth round (37th overall) of the 2025 CFL Canadian Draft but missed the 2025 season due to injury.
“It was surreal. It’s always surreal to get an opportunity in the CFL but even more so when it’s your hometown team and the one you grew up cheering for. It’s very exciting but also humbling. A week ago, I didn’t know if I was going to get another opportunity. I was preparing to go back to university to finish my university career and then I got the call,” Klassen said.
“It puts a lot of things into perspective so I’m glad I stuck with it and been patient throughout the process.”
Notes
The team released defensive lineman Marcus Haynes … Linebacker Antoine Brooks Jr. and defensive back Marcus Sayles had interceptions on back-to-back plays … Wide receiver D’sean Mimbs went up and caught a pass from Jack Coan. Shortly after, he went low to haul in a pass from Brayden Schager.
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