The Play That Took Rashaan Evans' Breath Away -- Literally

Linebacker's fumble return against Kansas City 'the most exhausted that I've ever been.'

David Boclair | May 18, 2020

It was arguably the moment at which the Tennessee Titans set sail toward their regular-season victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

It also left linebacker Rashaan Evans winded.

His 53-yard fumble return for a touchdown with just over six minutes to play in the first half gave the Titans their first lead in a contest that featured four second-half lead changes and ultimately was not settled until a blocked field goal attempt as time expired. Tennessee won what turned out to be an AFC Championship preview 35-32.

“That play right there actually probably made me the most exhausted that I’ve ever been in football,” Evans said last week in an interview with NFL Films.

The Titans trailed 10-7 and Kansas City had just crossed midfield on its fourth offensive possession. On first-and-10 from the Tennessee 44, running back Damien Williams took a handoff going right. As he tried to cut back, defensive lineman Austin Johnson corralled him and rookie linebacker David Long arrived to help.

“I was basically working to my left,” Evans said. “I kind of overran it a little bit, and I saw to my right David Long. He knocked the ball out. I saw the ball kind of roll on the ground. It was almost like it was in slow motion.

“I picked it up. Saw Patrick Mahomes. Went around him and then – shoot – after that I was like, ‘I got to make sure I score.’ I knew that Tyreek Hill was trying to catch me so, I mean, I tried to run as hard as I could.”

It was the first career fumble recovery and the first touchdown for the 2018 first-round draft pick out of Alabama.

“That was probably one of my best moments, just the fact that I got to do it with the defense in general,” he said. “Because it wasn’t just me. It was guys that, you know, tackled him, made the fumble for it to – literally – roll perfectly for me to scoop up. It was just a good, collective defensive effort.”

One that took his breath away. Literally.

Published May 18, 2020

DAVID BOCLAIR

David Boclair has covered the Tennessee Titans for multiple news outlets since 1998. He is award-winning journalist who has covered a wide range of topics in Middle Tennessee as well as Dallas-Fort Worth, where he worked for three different newspapers from 1987-96. As a student journalist at Southern Methodist University he covered the NCAA's decision to impose the so-called death penalty on the school's football program.