Oklahoma State defensive lineman Brendon Evers announces he's forgoing remainder of season
Oklahoma State defensive lineman Brendon Evers declared on Thursday of Week 8 that he intends to forgo the remainder of the season. Evers plans to use the time between now and March to prepare for the 2023 NFL Draft, according to the statement he posted on Twitter.
Evers is a super senior who signed with the Cowboys in the 2017 signing class. So far this year for the 5-1 squad, he has three tackles. He notched two versus Central Michigan and one versus Baylor.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg confirmed on Thursday that the tackle’s decision is related to his injury status. He made 26 starts over his career with Oklahoma State, which is the third-most on the defense.
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“Sometimes God has a different plan than the one you originally thought,” Evers wrote. “After much prayer and consideration with my family, coaches, and medical staff, I have decided to forego the rest of the 2022 season and prepare for the 2023 NFL Draft. Forever a Cowboy.”
At the beginning of the season, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy with a description of Evers and fellow super-senior Brock Martin.
“They’re like 10-year vets in the NFL,” Gundy said. “They come over and they smoke a cigarette and they go back out and play 10 more plays.”
Evers fights through injury leading up to early departure
In 2021, the defensive tackle posted a career-high 21 tackles with three sacks. In his third season, he came back from postseason surgery and discussed his struggles to continue to play.
“There were times I contemplated leaving school. There were times I contemplated just being done with football in general,” Evers said at the time. “But luckily, I had a great support staff and a lot of great teammates that saw me through, so I was grateful for that.
“I definitely went up and down with my mental state. It’s something we don’t really talk about in this game a lot. But when injuries hit, you gotta get through it.”
Evers, a Bixby, Oklahoma native, is 6-foot-2 and 295 pounds. He’s contributed in every season from 2018-2022 but suffered multiple injuries throughout his career, including this season. Now, he is setting his sights on the next level.