Football | 3/8/2020 11:40:00 AM

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - Former Bloomsburg University football great, Jahri Evans '07, was presented with the 2020 Steinberg-DeNicola Humanitarian Award at the 83rd Annual Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala in Atlantic City, New Jersey, over the weekend.

The Humanitarian award is given to a representative of the NFL that has committed themselves to doing good in their community. Previous winners of the Steinberg-DeNicola Humanitarian award, which has been presented annually at the Steinberg Super Bowl Party and Maxwell Gala, include owners, players, coaches, and NFL executives. Previous recipients include Connor Barwin, Larry Fitzgerald, Andy Reid, Jack Del Rio, and Steve Smith Sr., among others.

Evans' philanthropic efforts have been plentiful at his alma mater. He donated $500,000 for a new LED video scoreboard at Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium in 2018 and previously contributed $500,000 to the First & Goal Campaign to endow a football scholarship. On August 31, 2018, he was inducted into the Bloomsburg Wall of Distinction, an area located on the academic quadrangle where the University recognizes donors who have had an incredible impact on Bloomsburg and contributed $1 million or more. Evans was also inducted into the Bloomsburg University Athletic Hall of Fame on October 19 of that same year.
 
His philanthropy, however, is not strictly focused at Bloomsburg as he has generously donated time and resources primarily to his hometown of Philadelphia and to where he spent most of his playing days in the National Football League – New Orleans.
 
In 2008, The Jahri Evans Foundation was created to illustrate to student-athletes that academic excellence paves the way to athletic excellence through encouragement, determination, and hard work. The Jahri Evans Foundation is dedicated to enriching the lives of youth by improving their quality of education and promoting the overall health, safety, and physical fitness of all children. Evans and his foundation have sponsored free youth football and cheerleading camps each year in Philadelphia with more than 325 youth participating annually. Evans also assists former Bloomsburg assistant coach, Brian McBryan, at the annual McBryan Clinic which is designed to give high school offensive linemen the skills they need to be successful.
 
He and his foundation have provided more than $1.5 million in charitable donations to date including donations to The Philadelphia School District and the building and rebuilding of homes along with Habitat for Humanity, The Wounded Warrior Project, United Way, and Operation Home in New Orleans for residents and military veterans as well as donations to many other youth organizations and community groups.
 
The Frankford Alumni Association awarded Evans with The Pioneer Achievement Award in 2010 for distinguished leadership, achievement, and service and in 2014, he was awarded The Hope Award given by The Irving Morris Foundation for his many charitable donations, his concern with the welfare of others and his support, time, dedication, and generosity and love in helping our communities thrive.
 
On the field, Evans was one of the most decorated offensive linemen to put on a Bloomsburg football jersey and then went on to have a prolific career in the National Football League, primarily playing for the New Orleans Saints. He spent the 2017 season with the Green Bay Packers.
 
Evans took over as a full-time starter on the Huskies' offensive line in 2003 but it was in 2004 that the awards started rolling in for the left tackle. He was an American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) First Team All-American as a junior while earning Second Team All-American honors from both the Associated Press and from the Don Hansen Football Gazette. Then, as a senior in 2005, Evans helped the Huskies to an average of 284.3 rushing yards per game – eighth-most in the country. He went on to earn First Team All-American honors from five different organizations – the AFCA, Daktronics, Don Hansen Football Gazette, Associated Press, and D2Football.com. He was also a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award, which honors the nation's top lineman in Division II, in each of his last two seasons.
 
He earned both the Danny Litwhiler Award as Bloomsburg's Male Underclass Athlete of the Year in 2005 and the Robert B. Redman Award as Bloomsburg's Male Senior Athlete of the Year in 2006.
 
Evans was then selected in the fourth round (108th overall) by the New Orleans Saints in the 2006 NFL Draft, becoming the first Huskies' player chosen in the draft since 1992. He was selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls (2009-14) and was named a First Team All-Pro in four consecutive seasons from 2009-12 while earning Second Team All-Pro accolades in 2013. Evans was also named to the Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie Team in 2006, was a two-time Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award recipient (2009, 2011), and was a member of the New Orleans Saints' 50th Anniversary Team in 2016.
 
Among Saints' offensive linemen, his six Pro Bowl appearances ranks second all-time in team history. He also ranks second all-time in Saints' history with 169 career games played. He helped the Saints finish in the top six in the league in total offense in all 11 of his seasons (2006-2016), including six number-one rankings. He also helped New Orleans finish in the top ten in scoring in nine of his 11 seasons, including number one rankings in 2008 and 2009. Evans was named to his first Pro Bowl and earned First Team All-Pro recognition for the first time in 2009 – a season that was capped off with the Saints' victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
 
Evans graduated from Bloomsburg in 2007 with a degree in exercise science. In 2009, he established a full scholarship for out-of-state minority students enrolled in Bloomsburg's master of science clinical athletic training program. The Jahri Evans Football Endowed Scholarship was then established in 2014 and will carry on forever. In 2017, Evans received his MBA from The University of Miami in executive business administration. He is also part owner of the Philadelphia Soul Arena Football League team and owns SOMO SoPhi Restaurant located in South Philadelphia.
 
Evans and his wife, Takia, welcomed their first child, Atlas, on March 16, 2018.