Family ties strong for Badgers' Nick Evers, distant cousin of a slain civil rights leader

MADISON – Wisconsin quarterback Nick Evers never met his distant cousin, one of the more influential figures in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s.

His name: Medgar Evers.

“His significance to me was obviously what he did back in the 60s, being a civil rights leader,” Nick Evers, a redshirt freshman in his first year at UW, said after practice Sunday. “He was definitely a role model in our family.”

Medgar Evers was born on July 2, 1925, in Decatur, Mississippi. He went on to graduate from Alcorn State University, serve in the U.S. Army from 1943 through 1945 and became a dogged civil rights activist beginning in the 1950s.

He worked to end segregation at the University of Mississippi and in all public facilities and became the NAACP’s first field secretary in Mississippi.

Evers was 37 when he was shot and killed on June 12, 1963. He was shot in front of his home in Jackson by Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist who fought against desegregation.

Evers’ wife, Myrlie, found him bleeding to death a few feet from the front door. The couple’s three children two boys and a girl – were also home.

Their home is now the Medgar and Myrlie Evers National Monument.

Nick Evers was in Madison in June when his parents and two younger siblings traveled from Texas to Mississippi to participate in festivities commemorating the 60^th anniversary of Medgar Evers' death.

Nick Evers, 19, spoke passionately about his family’s trip to Mississippi and his fourth cousin.

Trip to Mississippi sparked myriad emotions for family

“They described it as just a surreal moment,” Nick Evers said. “Very humbling. Very emotional. It wasn’t so much that it was something someone in our family went through, but that something our community went through as a whole. That made it even more emotional…My parents got a chance to meet his family.

“This year was the first year our entire family went down. Normally on family reunions we went to Milwaukee to see my great grandmother. She passed away recently, at 100. She had a good life, a real good life.”

The movie 'Ghosts of Mississippi' told the story of Medgar Evers and his wife, Myrlie Evers

Nick Evers wasn’t born yet when the movie 'Ghosts of Mississippi,' which told the story of Medgar Evers’ death and his wife’s battle to see his killer brought to justice, was released in 1996.

He first watched it when he was 10 or 11.

“I didn’t know exactly what was going on until my dad told me after the movie,” he explained. “He was like: ‘You know that is your family right there.’

Nick Evers’ reaction: “What? Wow.

“I watched it again when I was 16. I watched it with my dad to get a better understanding. I was such a young kid that I didn’t really know all that was going on.

“Having someone like Medgar fighting for those rights to get to where we are today was something that made it truly inspiring. It was a beautiful moment.”

Nick Evers felt pride learning about his cousin's work but frustration learning how he died

“Obviously, anything that involves my family I am very protective of them,” he said. “And when you see something like that happen – not just to our family but to anyone in general – it kind of sets me off personally.

“I never like to see cruelty. I truly believe that everybody deserves to be treated equally. So when I see something like that, it’s very frustrating.”

Nick Evers hopes to meet Myrlie Evers-Williams, now 90

Myrlie Evers remarried in 1976, though her second husband passed away in 1995. She carried on Medgar’ Evers battle for civil rights and pushed for three decades to see De La Beckwith brought to justice.

The first two trials, in 1964, ended with hung juries. De La Beckwith was tried again, based on new evidence, and found guilty of murder in 1994. He was sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison on Jan. 21, 2001. He was 80.

If Nick Evers is able to meet Medgar’s wife, he would ask how she was able to fight for a new trial for three decades.

“Hopefully one day I’ll be able to get that chance,” he said. “But I think that is how we are as a family, never give up until the mission is finished.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Badgers quarterback Nick Evers proud of his family history