REGINA - Many people across Saskatchewan know Zach Evans as a two-time Grey Cup champion with the Sask. Roughriders during his tenure in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
However, most people don’t know that Evans is now working with the Habitat for Humanity Sask. branch, giving those less fortunate a place to call home.
Evans had been working with the Roughriders for several years as their sales & partner relations executive.
Once he departed from working with the team, Evans thought to himself, "what do I want to do? What's going to fill my personal bucket? You [know] what I mean?"
He remembered that during his career in football and thinking about life in general, everything was "about the community, giving back to the community. I was the first one to say [I want to do community events with the Roughriders], yes, I'll go and do Rider reading month, or I'll go and be the LGBT community ambassador, or speak at laughter for literacy, and these types of events. Because for me, growing up in Saskatchewan and having writers come to my school, or writers just meeting them for autographs and stuff, that is such an impactful thing for children, youth, and just regular human beings."
Evans had a mindset that "if I can inspire one kid out of the thousands that I've spoken to or talked to, I've done my job for that day. That's my job, is to enact change and help my community be better in any way I possibly can."
He recalled a time when he went up to La Loche, a northern community in Sask., which Evans described as a "fly-in community almost." The team was up there for the annual Northern Football Jamboree.
Many of the kids participated in activities, and Evans saw one kid who was not enjoying himself like the others.
The child told Evans, "so the reason I'm here is because my best friend said 'he always wanted me to try football'. 'And so for me, I'm just like, okay, that's amazing. Like, is your friend here?' And he said, well, the reason I'm here is because he committed suicide. And this was my opportunity to fulfill him [when he was] suggesting [that] I should try football."
Once Evans heard the kid's story, he was "devastated." He added, "I was almost [at a] loss for words because you're just [in shock]. You don't realize the impact that you have [and I wondered] like, why did that one kid come up to me and tell me that thing? And I've [only] known him for 10 minutes, like, why? And the ability to impact anyway, like, that just fills my bucket to be like, hey, if I can give someone the tools to not end up like that or to not choose the wrong path or anything that I possibly can, like that's my job."
In his new role with Habitat for Humanity, Evans helps figure out the logistics for events the organization is holding.
"We have our gala that's happening May 3 [2025]., that we're basically building a home by midnight. And it's called Home by Midnight gala. And so we are reaching out to community partners, to [other] businesses [and] to companies, to obviously give as much as they possibly can to help us serve more families in Saskatchewan. And that's the big thing. We want to build houses. That's who we are and how we get there. We need our community's help. So initiatives [that we’re hosting] like Home by Midnight gala [and other ones that] we're [also] hosting two golf tournaments next year as well [to raise funds to build more homes]," said Evans.
That’s why Evans feels he is currently in this role, where he can help give people houses at more affordable rates.
He clarified that the houses built by the organization are not free, as the homeowner still pays their own rent or mortgage, but Habitat for Humanity helps them through the process.
Evans also added this "allows them to build equity within that property and then hopefully get them discharged from that program, whether or not they, they sell the house back to us and they keep the equity, and now we have another home so we can serve another family."
Even though Evans was a long-time football player, if you asked him does he missed playing the sport, Evans would tell you "no."
"Football is a hard life. It is. As much as everyone glorifies it and makes it look so shiny and beautiful, and everyone wants to do it. It's a very hard life, and you have to be fully committed to it at all times," said Evans.
Evans decided to retire in 2019 because he felt his body would not keep up with the gruelling demands of the sport, taking constant hits from tackles.
Once COVID-19 became a worldwide issue, Evans said to himself, "I'm good. I'm done. And it was kind of a great way to end my career to be like, hey, yeah, I was happy that I got to leave when I got to leave. And yeah, it's a big change in life, but it's a good change.
While Evans does not miss football, he does wish he could bask in certain moments again, like hosting the Grey Cup or hearing the sound of 40,000 fans cheering.
As Evans continues forward with his life, he has one main objective. "I want to give back to my community because my community has given me so much. And I'm not saying that in money terms. I'm saying that in just enrichment and in love, and in life. It's just that's who I am. I love my community. I love Sask.," said Evans.
