After Alabama commitment, Rashaan Evans says some are telling Auburn restaurants not to serve his family
The Iron Bowl never ceases.
For the second straight year, a five-star recruit from Auburn, Ala. committed to play football at Alabama instead of Auburn on National Signing Day. Last year, it was LB Reuben Foster. This year, it was LB Rashaan Evans, the No. 1 LB in the country, according to Rivals.
And after Evans made his decision official on Feb. 5, he told TideSports.com that Auburn fans think he made a really bad decision. A really bad one.
"It's getting worse," Evans told TideSports.com. "Someone actually put out an article about my family's business telling all Auburn fans not to go there. We are going to eventually start losing money. People are telling restaurants in the town not to serve us.
"It's hard for me to go out and chill with my friends like I have always done because people keep coming up to me telling me I made a bad decision. It's grown men. They are asking me why I did this to them. I told them I had to do what is best for me."
It's a quote that sounds unbelievable until you take a lap around various recruit's social media outlets and then you realize it's all too believable. Since the comments were published Monday, Evans' twitter feed has received a lot of support, but there are still some ridiculous tweets mixed in.
"Social media has definitely been the worst," Evans said. "People on Instagram are telling me how they hope I tear my ACL in game one. They will laugh when I do. They are saying my family is horrible and how they didn't raise me right. It's just crazy."
Evans said he's gotten much support from Alabama fans, and you'd expect nothing less. But before you castigate Auburn fans, it's also easily imaginable to see this scenario playing out the same way had Foster been raised in Tuscaloosa, Ala. and committed to Auburn. All you have to do is look at the comments directed towards Alabama kicker Cade Foster after his struggles against Auburn in November.
The recruitment of Evans was a hotly contested one up until signing day. Both Auburn and Alabama coaches were in attendance at his grandfather's 80th birthday, and to many, his commitment to the Tide was a coup for coach Nick Saban.
And the process Evans went through is another example of recruiting in 2014. The e-accessibility of recruits makes it incredibly easy to tweet dumb messages to those teenagers deciding on a future school. Add in the hometown angle in the football-crazed south and it's quite ridiculous.
- - - - - - -
is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @NickBromberg
