Raymond Richard Evans was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 halfback

Halfback (American football)

A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...

. He was an All-American in football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 and a two time All-American in basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 at the University of Kansas

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

 and is considered possibly the greatest overall athlete to ever attend KU. In addition to his multi-sport prowess in college, Evans would go on to play professional football and basketball, and was even offered a contract to play baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 for the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

.

Football

He played both halfback on offense

Offense (sports)

In sports, offense or offence , also known as attack, is the action of attacking or engaging an opposing team with the objective of scoring points or goals...

 and defensive back on defense at KU. During his 1947 All-American

College Football All-America Team

The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...

 season, Evans led the Jayhawks

Kansas Jayhawks

The sports teams at the University of Kansas are known as the Jayhawks. They are one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a member of the Big 12 Conference...

 to a Big Six Conference

Big Eight Conference

The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...

 championship and an appearance in the Orange Bowl. He also holds the distinction as the only NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 football player ever to lead the nation in passing on offense and interceptions

Interception (football)

An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...

 on defense in the same season. In fact, Evans is still the Jayhawks single-season (10) and career (17) leader in interceptions.

Basketball

Evans was also a standout guard on the basketball team where he played for the legendary Phog Allen

Phog Allen

Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen was an American basketball and baseball player, coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, college athletics administrator, and osteopathic physician...

. He was an All-American member of the 1943 conference championship team (which also featured Charles B. Black and Otto Schnellbacher

Otto Schnellbacher

Otto Ole Schnellbacher was an American football defensive back in the National Football League for the New York Giants. He was a 2-time Pro Bowler. Also a professional basketball player, Schnellbacher played for the Basketball Association of America's Providence Steamrollers and St. Louis Bombers...

) that is regarded as one of the greatest in the basketball program's proud history.

Professional career

Evans was drafted by the New York Knicks

New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 in the 1947 BAA Draft

1947 BAA Draft

The 1947 BAA Draft was the inaugural draft of the Basketball Association of America , which later became the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on July 1, 1947 before the 1947–48 season. In this draft, nine remaining BAA teams along with the Baltimore Bullets who joined the BAA...

 but went on to play in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 for the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

 (1948).

Legacy

Ray Evans is the only athlete at KU to have both his basketball jersey (15) and football jersey (42) retired. Ray's college athletic career was interrupted by three years of service with the United States Army Air Forces

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

 in 1964. Evans died in his home on April 24, 1999 from natural causes.

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