Vincent Tobias Evans (born June 14, 1955) is a former professional American football quarterback who was selected by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round (140th overall pick) of the 1977 NFL Draft. Evans played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and was the MVP of the 1977 Rose Bowl after the Trojans' 14–6 victory over Michigan.
Evans played professionally for the Bears as well as Chicago's team in the United States Football League (USFL), the Chicago Blitz, as well as the USFL's Denver Gold, and the NFL's Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders in a career that spanned nearly 20 years from 1977 to 1995. In 1976, he threw for 1,440 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. He completed 53.7% of his passes.
Evans is the only player of the Bears to score a perfect quarterback rating in a game, doing so against the Green Bay Packers in 1980, completing 18 of 22 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns. The game marked the first time since 1970 that a Bears quarterback threw for more than 300 yards.
After losing the season opener in his final USC season, the Trojans won their next 10 games with Evans at quarterback and ended up ranked the No. 2 team in the nation.
College
Vince Evans played high school football for Ben L. Smith High in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is one of six players from that program that went on to play pro football. The list includes former Washington Redskins center Jeff Bostic and his brother Joe. Former Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Ebron also attended Ben L. Smith.
Evans enrolled at USC and saw his first action during the 1974 season. While at USC, Evans played for future Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach John McKay, and served as an understudy to Pat Haden, who'd later play in the NFL as a member of the Los Angeles Rams. In his first season of action, Evans completed six of sixteen passes for one touchdown and one interception. USC finished 10-1 and number two in the AP poll that season. The following season, with Haden graduated and off to the NFL, Evans took over as starter. Despite having the talented Ricky Bell and Mosi Tatupu in the backfield, the Trojans slipped to 8-4 and ranked 17 in the final AP poll that season. Even as a starter, Evans only attempted 112 passes that season, and the Trojans applied more of a ground attack than an air game. In Evans' senior season, John Robinson came aboard to replace McKay, as he left USC to coach the expansion team in Tampa Bay. Under Robinson, Evans had his best career season, stat wise. He completed 95 passes on 177 attempts, and for the first time, threw more touchdown passes, ten, versus interceptions, six. His primary target that season was receiver Sheldon Diggs, though Tatupu provided a target out of the backfield as well. USC's fortunes in the AP poll improved as well, as the team finished 11–1, with their only loss being the season opener to Missouri. After that, USC rolled off 11 straight wins, including a 56-0 blowout of the Iowa Hawkeyes. From there, USC defeated their Pac-8 opponents and even defeated rival Notre Dame 17–13. Evans led USC to a 14–6 win over Michigan in the 1977 Rose Bowl. Michigan had raced out to a 6–0 lead thanks to a rushing touchdown by Rob Lytle. The kick was missed. Evans led USC down the field later in the second quarter and ran the ball in the end zone himself. The extra point attempt by Glenn Walker was good and the Trojans lead 7–6. Charles White would score a rushing touchdown in the second half to put USC up for good.