Former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Jordan Evans has found a home with the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons, playing his first pro ball since 2021 with the Bengals.
Now a captain and the player with the most NFL experience on his new team, Evans says he’s just thankful to be back out on the field.
“It was a blessing,” Evans said, according to Scott Hanson of the Seattle Times. “I had a lot of gratitude playing and I just loved being out there, flying around and tackling … and doing all those things that I missed out on for 16 months.”
Evans, a sixth-round pick by the Bengals in 2017, spent his NFL career so far in Cincinnati and suffered a torn ACL in October of 2021. The returning league’s re-launch marks his first football since that injury.
This journey for Evans is both amazing and not uncommon for former NFL players finding success elsewhere. The former Oklahoma Sooners player is one of several former Bengals making headway in the XFL, topped off by AJ McCarron’s stunning fourth-quarter comeback win.