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Defensive end Demetric ?Meat? Evans is the latest member of the 49ers to blog for 49ers.com. In his second entry of ?The Meat Zone,? Evans talks about his love of basketball, his non-profit foundation and his weekend trip back home.
After Tuesday?s OTA workout, I figured I?d buy some golf clubs since I?m out here in Cali where we have great weather. That alone is a motivation for me to work on my golf game and try to enjoy the outdoors. To be honest, I haven?t played golf that often. When I was in D.C. it was hard to play and so I never got into it. But I guess now is probably a good time to try it out.
I have a set of clubs back home in Virginia that a friend of mine gave me. I was lucky that he was left-handed like myself or I wouldn?t have gotten hooked up. But I didn?t bring them out West and so I thought buying a new set would be a good opportunity to get the perfect set of clubs that go with my swing and are long enough for me to use. Most golf shops don?t have clubs made for guys who are 6-4. So Nike has a professional club-fitter I?m going to see and have him analyze my swing and make sure I have the proper equipment. Hopefully with a new set of clubs it will help me pick the game up faster. I hear Jay Moore, one of our outside linebackers is a big golfer and he takes guys out on the course with him, so I?m going to holler at him for some tips pretty soon.
After I got situated with the clubs, I went to Dave and Buster?s with Ray McDonald to watch the NBA Finals. To be honest, I was hoping to see Denver against Orlando because I just like Chauncey Billups. I think he?s an unsung hero in the NBA, and he helped turn the Nuggets franchise around when he got traded for Allen Iverson mid-season. Oh, and I like Carmelo Anthony?s game a lot too. But, they?re not there so I really don?t care who wins between the Magic and Lakers ? I just want to see a good series. I know Orlando didn?t start the series off right, but I?m hoping they come back and make things competitive.
I usually watch sports on TV when I?m back at the team hotel chilling, but sometimes I check out shows on the Discovery Channel. I definitely like ?The Deadliest Catch? but my favorite show has to be ?American Loggers.? They follow around lumberjacks while they?re out there cutting trees down and it?s amazing how much equipment they use. Plus the thought that goes into what they do is crazy. The way they use the chainsaws to cut a tree one way so it falls the other way is amazing to me. That?s a dangerous job! It?s foggy and the saws are no joke, if you?re not careful you could be in some serious trouble.
I don?t think I could make it as a lumberjack. I played basketball and football growing up, but when I played basketball my style was more like Charles Barkley?s style of play. I hit the boards hard and of course, I had a nice little jump-shot. Basketball was my first love because it doesn?t cost much to play. With football you needed equipment and a bunch of guys just to play. But with basketball, you could just go outside and shoot around by yourself. I had to focus on football because at the end of the day I had a brighter future playing defensive end. My high school won the state title every year I was there and as a senior I was named player of the year in the state of Louisiana. It was a tough decision back then, but I?m glad I stuck with football.
Speaking of my hometown, I try to give back to my community in Louisiana as much as possible, especially helping out single parents. I was raised by a single parent and I know how hard it is on the kids who are in that situation. That?s why I started my non-profit foundation, 92 Blessings.
My foundation gives back to those families who don?t have enough money to buy kids sneakers for basketball or football cleats. Every Thanksgiving we give away 92 turkeys to needy families. But I guess it?s going to be 93 this year. Ninety-two is part of the name, because it has been my number since college, but Aubrayo Franklin has that here. I?m cool with wearing 93, it?s one-better than what I?ve been wearing before and another family will benefit from the change too.
As for what?s been doing down here at the team facility, we?ve practiced seven days in a row and you can tell guys on both sides of the ball got into a groove. We picked up the concepts that were being taught to us and we had a chance to watch film every day and get better. It also allowed me personally to get a better feel for the personnel we have on this team.
I know a little bit about our squad from playing them last year in the regular season finale, but we didn?t even watch the game film afterwards. When the season was over we all went our separate ways. But I do remember going against Joe Staley and Adam Snyder, because I played both defensive end spots. They were talented players and I?m looking forward to getting the pads on soon and going against them again in training camp.
Now that we?ve finished our seven days of practice, I?m headed back to Virginia for the weekend before coming back for two more days of OTAs next week. My wife Aungel has a banquet for her residency program. She?s going on her fourth year, so I?m going to support her accomplishment and be a good husband. I?ll be spending 12 hours in the air, but I?m flying Virgin Airlines, so it shouldn?t be too bad. If you ever want to fly across the country, fly with them. I need to talk with their marketing people, so I can get a promotional deal with them ? for real! They have all kinds of movies and video games to entertain you while you?re flying.
I?m really looking forward to a nice weekend with my wife, relaxing at home and of course, sleeping in my own bed! Oh my God! How nice is that going to be? I can?t wait to enjoy the comfort of being home and then waking up late at night and sneaking in the kitchen to see what?s in the refrigerator to snack on. You really take things like that for granted. Being at home should be nice, but you never know if my wife will have some errands to do around the house. Hopefully I won?t have to do any summer cleaning just yet and I can take care of that when I?m home before training camp.
Now that I think about it, the offseason went by real fast! I signed as a free agent, came to town to work out with the team in the offseason conditioning program, the draft went by and now we?re almost done with minicamps and OTAs. It?s crazy how things have happened just like that. I guess time flies when you?re having fun and putting in work.
