NFL Media's Oklahoma Drill series presents exclusive, quick-hitting one-on-one interviews with players and coaches from around the league. No nonsense -- just football experiences directly from the source.
Tanner McEvoy
Wide receiver, Seattle Seahawks
Born: Jan. 26, 1993
Experience: Two NFL seasons
Interview by Logan Reardon | July 24, 2018
I would say it was tough (not having a defined position in college), but it definitely taught me a lot. Every season, I would learn so much more from the prior one and I would try to help myself for the upcoming year by learning from my mistakes the year before.
Playing a bunch of positions and changing schools is just all part of my story. It worked out for me in the end. It might look different to some people, but I wouldn't really have it any other way.
You always kind of look back and wish things went a little differently. Sometimes you ask yourself, What if I stayed with this one position in high school? Or, What if I went to this school for college? But who knows where I would be now (if things were different). I don't know, things happened the way they did. I can't really knock it too much because I'm still playing in the NFL, playing wide receiver and getting to play football as a job, which is really all I ever wanted.
[Seattle] was pretty much the only offer I had (after I went undrafted). It kind of limited my choices in that regard. But they actually wanted me at safety, which was kind of weird. I came in and did all the OTAs at safety and then, literally two years ago today, the day before camp started, Pete (Carroll) called and said, "Hey, we have a pretty stacked defense right now -- I think your best bet is go out and give it a shot at receiver." I made a few big plays in that preseason and earned the spot on the roster.
When I changed my position (to wide receiver), it was kind of raw position for me. I hadn't really played it since high school other than a few snaps my senior year (at Wisconsin).
[My wide receivers coach and I] would try to look for bigger receivers that were more of my body type. One of the guys that we started to focus on was Brandon Marshall. Fast-forward two years later and we signed Brandon Marshall. Now I have him in the receiver room and I can pick his mind. He's been super helpful. He's one of those guys that'll help you out. I've been trying to model, maybe not my whole game, but at least just learn some coaching points from someone that's just similar to my body type.
My first touchdown was really cool. To do it back in New Jersey [against the Jets], where I grew up and on a field that I've played state championship games on, getting my first catch and my first touchdown all on one play in front of my friends and family, that was pretty surreal.
I wanted to pick the right charity (for the Pro Player Charity Fortnite Tournament) because I went into it thinking I was going to win this thing. For [winning the tournament], St. Jude's (Children's Research Hospital) gets [a $50,000 donation from Microsoft stores].
I actually had a cousin around my age who had a brain aneurysm unexpectedly. It's a crazy thing to happen, but it happened to him and it's something the family had to deal with. Luckily, St. Jude's provides financial support basically without asking the family for money. If it wasn't for them, I don't know where [my cousin] be now. Luckily, he's still here. My niece is also involved with St. Jude's, so it's close to my family and I know they have a great organization.
I showed up to the Microsoft store a few hours early because my phone was broken, and I didn't know the rules (of the Fortnite tournament). I was thinking, All my buddies I play with are either on the East Coast or in California, and the player you play with (for the tournament) had to be in the store when you played. So, I'm literally walking around the store, watching kids play and trying to figure out the best one to play with. A kid I was talking to referred me to a guy about my age. I looked at the stats, I approved. He came in and it was funny. We played two warm-up games and we won back-to-back. It was just a match made in heaven.
Luke Willson, who (was McEvoy's former teammate and) plays for the Lions now, didn't make it very far (in the tournament) and he was talking a big game, so we might hand him the crown of the worst Fortnite player.
I have (played as myself in "Madden") a few times, but I'm not the best player. I enjoy seeing myself out there, but I also enjoy winning, so it's a fine line trying to balance that. But when [I first came into the league], it was cool to see. I was always a huge "Madden" fan growing up.
I'm just going to focus on scoring a touchdown and then, in the spur of the moment, maybe if a "Fortnite" celebration comes out of me, it comes out of me. I don't know what'll happen, but we'll see. I like to keep people on their toes.
[Russell Wilson] is just a football player, man. He's just an athlete out there making plays. He's a smart guy and he works harder than any guy that I've really ever worked with or met, and he does it consistently. It's just great having that kind of guy as your quarterback. The plays that he makes when things break down is really what makes him special. We just kind of follow him and we know that it might not go according to plan, whether it's a play or the season, but he's going to stay positive and try to make something good out of it.
It's actually been a pretty nice life (without Twitter). I don't have to worry about anyone pulling up any old tweets from 2006 or something. But when it was coming out, I was just kind of against it. I was even against Instagram. I was just one of those kids that like, "Yeah, sure, whatever. You can have your new social media stuff and I'll just stick with Facebook and be fine. I kind of just missed the wave, and after I missed it, I realized I missed out on a lot of followers. So, now there's no point in even going on Twitter. I'm just going to be an Instagram and Facebook guy. I'm not really much of a tweeter or caption guy.
