Former University of Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans is now in his fourth season of professional football north of the border. Evans is a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.

Evans, whom I follow on Twitter, is a native of Chickasha, Oklahoma, and graduated from high school in Sanger, Texas. He completed his studies at TU in 2017 and was invited to the Philadelphia Eagles training camp as an undrafted free-agent. He didn’t make the team and after being waved by the Eagles, Evans was signed to the Hamilton practice roster.

For the past few seasons, Evans was officially the backup quarterback to starter Jerimiah Masoli, but the two quarterbacks each battled through a couple injuries, giving Evans plenty of opportunities to start. In fact, Evans started both of the last two Grey Cup games for the Ticats, but left last year’s championship game in the second quarter, with an injury.

In the offseason, Masoli was sent to Ottawa, and Evans was given a two-year contract extension and named the starting quarterback. Hamilton is four games into the CFL season, and Evans sits atop the league stats with 99 completions, on 152 attempts, 1,081 passing yards and five touchdowns. However, he has thrown a league-leading eight interceptions and his team is off to an 0-4 start.

Last week, Evans made news in Canada as he invited 100 Indigenous youth to Tim Hortons Field for Play It Forward Day (July 5). Participants, who were transported to and from the event, were given Play It Forward shirts and joined Evans and other Ticats for a day full of fun activities and games. Evans, who is of Wichita (tribe) descent, says he wants to inspire and empower Indigenous youth.

“My parents instilled in me the importance of paying it forward and it’s something I’ve always tried to prioritize, specifically with the youth,” said Evans prior to the event. “I hope the kids come out, have a great time and they too can realize the importance of paying it forward, regardless of who you are or how successful you may be.”

The initiative was created by Evans and the Ticats in partnership with Liuna.

As I’ve written before, I happen to be a fan of the CFL, and while growing up in Western New York, I was able to watch the Tiger-Cats games on CHCH-TV 11, out of Hamilton, Ont. So, I became a Ticats fan as a kid, and still am. That makes it even more fun to be able to watch a quarterback whose collegiate career I covered during his four years at TU, and now he plays for my favorite CFL team.

Evans’ website features official Dane Evans merchandise with his logo on shirts, hoodies, and other items. You can check it out at; daneevans.com.

ESPN has the rights to the CFL here in the U.S., but the network doesn’t broadcast all of the games, nor does it show the games only on its cable networks. If you have ESPN+, the premium streaming service, you will be able to watch almost all the CFL games. Here’s the upcoming broadcast schedule:

July 7

  • 8 p.m. Calgary at Edmonton ESPN+

July 8

  • 8:30 p.m. Ottawa at Saskatchewan ESPNEWS

July 9

  • 8 p.m. Winnipeg at BC ESPNEWS

July 14

  • 6:30 p.m. Edmonton at Montreal ESPN2

July 15

  • 7:30 p.m. Calgary at Winnipeg ESPN+

July 16

  • 1 p.m. Saskatchewan at Toronto ESPN+
  • 4 p.m. Ottawa at Hamilton ESPN+

July 21

  • 6 p.m. Montreal at Ottawa ESPN+
  • 9 p.m. Hamilton at BC ESPN+

July 22

  • 8 p.m. Winnipeg at Edmonton ESPN2

July 23

  • 6p.m. Toronto at Saskatchewan ESPNEWS

July 28

  • 6:30 p.m. Montreal at Hamilton ESPN+

July 29

  • 8 p.m. BC at Saskatchewan ESPN2

July 30

  • 6 p.m. Winnipeg at Calgary ESPN2

July 31

  • 4 p.m. Ottawa at Toronto ESPN+

Aug. 4

  • 6:30 p.m. Winnipeg at Montreal ESPN+

Aug. 5

  • 6:30 p.m. Calgary at Ottawa ESPN+

Aug. 6

  • 6 p.m. Hamilton at Toronto ESPN2
  • 9 p.m. Edmonton at BC ESPN2

Aug. 11

  • 7:30 p.m. Montreal at Winnipeg ESPN+

Aug. 12

  • 6:30 p.m. Toronto at Hamilton ESPN+

Aug. 13

  • 6 p.m. BC at Calgary ESPN+
  • 9 p.m. Saskatchewan at Edmonton ESPN+

Aug. 19

  • 6 p.m. Edmonton at Ottawa ESPN+
  • 9 p.m. BC at Saskatchewan ESPN+

Aug. 20

  • 3 p.m. Hamilton at Montreal ESPN+
  • 6 p.m. Calgary at Toronto ESPN+

Aug. 25

  • 7:30 p.m. Calgary at Winnipeg ESPN+

Aug. 26

  • 6:30 p.m. Hamilton at Toronto ESPN+
  • 9:30 p.m. Saskatchewan at BC ESPNEWS

Aug. 27

  • 6 p.m. Ottawa at Edmonton ESPN+

Sept. 2

  • 6:30 p.m. Ottawa at Montreal ESPN+

Sept. 4

  • 5 p.m. Winnipeg at Saskatchewan ESPN+

Sept. 5

  • 12 p.m. Toronto at Hamilton ESPN+
  • 3:30 p.m. Edmonton at Calgary ESPN+