Evan Lawrence Berry (born November 4, 1995) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers.[1][2] While primarily a safety, he was selected to All-America team as a return specialist in 2015.[3] He is the younger brother of former Tennessee Volunteers and former NFL safety Eric Berry, and his twin brother, Elliott, also played at Tennessee.[4]
| No. 29 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Wide receiver |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | November 4, 1995 Fairburn, Georgia, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight: | 207 lb (94 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Creekside (Fairburn) |
| College: | Tennessee |
| Undrafted: | 2018 |
| Career history | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
College career
editBerry attended and played college football at the University of Tennessee from 2014–2017 under head coach Butch Jones.[5]
In his freshman year in 2014, Berry split kickoff return duties with Devrin Young while Cameron Sutton and Jacob Carter dealt with the punt returning duties. He averaged 29.5 yards per return on 14 attempts on the season.[6]
Berry's sophomore season in 2015 was very productive. He handled most of the kick return duties on the season while Sutton and Alvin Kamara handled punt returns.[7] In the season opener against Bowling Green, he had a 67-yard kickoff return.[8] Two weeks later, against Western Carolina, he had an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.[9] On October 3, against Arkansas, he returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.[10] On October 31, against Kentucky, he had a 100-yard kickoff return for his third of the season.[11] In the Outback Bowl, against Northwestern, he had a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown to end the 45–6 victory for the Volunteers.[12] Overall, on the season, he averaged an NCAA-leading 38.3 yards per kick return on 21 attempts.[13] His 804 total kickoff return yards and three kickoff return touchdowns led the SEC in 2015.[14] For the 2015 season, Berry earned Consensus All-American honors.[15]
In his junior season in 2016, Berry was the primary kick return until suffering a knee injury against Tennessee Tech, which kept him out of the remainder of the season.[16] He recorded a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against South Carolina.[17] Overall, he averaged a SEC-leading 32.9 yards per kick return on 14 attempts.[18][19]
Berry's final season with the Volunteers was limited to only two games due to his prior injury. He totaled four kick returns for a 35.8 average.[20][21]
For his collegiate career, Berry finished first in NCAA and SEC history with 34.3 kickoff return yards per attempt and his four return touchdowns are tied for the most in SEC history.[22][23][24]
Collegiate statistics
edit| Evan Berry | Kick Returns | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Ret | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2014 | Tennessee | SEC | FR | DB | 8 | 14 | 413 | 29.5 | 0 |
| 2015 | Tennessee | SEC | SO | DB | 13 | 21 | 804 | 38.3 | 3 |
| 2016 | Tennessee | SEC | JR | DB | 8 | 14 | 460 | 32.9 | 1 |
| 2017 | Tennessee | SEC | SR | DB | 2 | 4 | 143 | 35.8 | 0 |
| Career | Tennessee | 53 | 1,820 | 34.3 | 4 | ||||
Professional career
editAfter going undrafted in the 2018 NFL draft, Berry signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns.[25] He was waived on August 28, 2018.[26]
References
edit- ^ "Evan Berry". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ Rucker, Wes (December 15, 2015). "Vols' Berry reflects on special season". GoVols247.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ Brown, Patrick (December 17, 2015). "Evan Berry's role could expand to defense after special season". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Knoxville, Tennessee: WEHCO Media. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ "Volquest: Berry twins commit to UT". WBIR. November 4, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ "Evan Berry College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "2014 Tennessee Volunteers Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "2015 Tennessee Volunteers Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Kress, Houston (September 6, 2015). "5 Observations from Tennessee's 59–30 Win". Rocky Top Insider. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Dopirak, Dustin (September 20, 2015). "Tennessee pounds Western Carolina 55–10". Vols Beat. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ McComack, Larry (October 3, 2015). "VOLS: Evan Berry kickoff return vs. Arkansas". The Daily Times. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Stephenson, David (November 1, 2015). "VOLS: Evan Berry TD return vs. Kentucky". The Daily Times. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "Tennessee routs No. 13 Northwestern". SEC Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "2015 Leaders". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "2015 Southeastern Conference Leaders". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "Consensus All-America Teams (2010–2017)". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Strange, Mike (November 7, 2016). "Evan Berry to miss rest of season for Tennessee". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Stephenson, Creg (October 30, 2016). "Watch Tennessee's Evan Berry return kickoff 100 yards for touchdown vs. South Carolina". AL.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "2016 Tennessee Volunteers Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "2016 Southeastern Conference Leaders". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Wilson, Mike (November 6, 2017). "Vols' Evan Berry out for season, Jarrett Guarantano 'probable' at Missouri". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "2017 Tennessee Volunteers Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "Kickoff Return Yards Per Return Career Leaders and Records". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "Southeastern Conference Career Leaders and Records for Kickoff Return Yards Per Return". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "Southeastern Conference Career Leaders and Records for Kickoff Return Touchdowns". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Ramey, Grant (April 28, 2018). "Evan Berry gets undrafted free agent deal with Browns". 247 Sports. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
- ^ "Browns sign OL Earl Watford; release 6". ClevelandBrowns.com. August 28, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2022.