It was a down season for Shaq Evans in 2021. After putting up some great numbers including 1,334 yards receiving and five touchdowns in 2019, he only managed 224 yards and no touchdowns in 2021. Of course, this was impacted by an injury that saw him miss half of the season, but the Roughriders fans expected more out of him.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Roughriders announced Evans had been re-signed, but it prompted some less-than-flattering comments regarding the receiver.
The identity of the people who made these comments will not be included, however, these comments were publicly made on the Roughriders Facebook page.
“Better get an attitude adjustment before camp!” said one commenter. “Acted like a selfish baby after injury.”
“Get ready for more pouting and tantrums from him,” said another
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“Can’t wait for him to whine and cry when the ball isn’t thrown his way and he throws his helmet,” wrote another fan.
These types of comments have been made during the season as well, so it’s not something new. Evans has been dealing with this for some time, and after his signing, he decided to speak on it.
“I want all the people calling me trash, lazy, cry baby etc. to keep that same energy when I bounce back,” said Evans in a comment on the Riders Facebook post about his re-signing. “Crazy because I know you guys weren’t saying that crap in 2019. Attacking my character like y’all know me personally. You see a couple things during games in emotional moments on the sidelines and think that defines me.”
It’s important to note that there are also a healthy amount of comments either encouraging Evans to have a bounce-back season or straight up predicting that it will happen. It hasn’t been all Riders fans who have made comments like this, but it’s clear that Evans is fed up with the few who have.
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I can’t wait to see Shaq back in action. Forget about the trash comments. Happy you are staying with the Riders. You will be great this coming season. I have no doubt.
There will always be a tiny–but vocal–minority of people who have nothing better to do with their sorry lives than find something to complain about. They have a particular predilection for attacking well-known or accomplished people–that is, those who they especially resent because of their accomplishments. Basic insecurity and self-inadequacy are behind this kind of behaviour…I hope that Shaq and others who have to put up with this can understand this, and just let it go…