Football

Titans RB Darrynton Evans gets baptized, engaged in same week: 'Relationship with God will sustain your life'

By Joshua Doering Sep 15, 2021
Darrynton Evans proposing to his girlfriend. (Photo via Twitter/@ItzLiveee)

Tennessee Titans running back and return specialist Darrynton Evans has been a busy man — even though he is on injured reserve to begin the 2021 season.

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On Monday, Evans announced on social media that he was engaged to journalist Aiyana Willoughby.

Then on Tuesday night, the second-year pro shared a video of him getting baptized by Titans team chaplain James Mitchell. Included with the baptism video was Psalm 42:1-2 (CSB): “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God?”

“A relationship with God will sustain your life in the midst of adversity,” Evans wrote in the post. “While everything around us seems like chaos he is Peace!”

Evans broke onto the football scene as a redshirt sophomore at Appalachian State in 2018, leading the Sun Belt with 1,187 rushing yards and being named first-team all-conference.

He also became the 2019 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year and earned MVP honors in the conference championship game as well as the New Orleans Bowl, both of which the Mountaineers won. His 24 total touchdowns that year (18 rushing, five receiving and one kickoff return) ranked third in the country.

When Evans left Appalachian State following the 2019 season, he, Christian McCaffrey and Chris Johnson were the only players since 2000 to rush for 1,400 yards, catch five touchdown passes and return a kickoff for a touchdown in the same season.

The Titans then selected Evans in the third round of the 2020 draft and he made his NFL debut in Week 3 last year. A stint on injured reserve limited him to five games as a rookie, with his lone touchdown coming through the air in Week 14.

This season, he carried the ball four times for 26 yards in Tennessee’s first preseason game, before suffering a knee injury that landed him back on injured reserve.

The Oak Hill, Florida, native has been outspoken about his faith throughout his career, and gave glory to God on social media after some of the defining moments in his journey. He sent a tweet praising God following his invite to the NFL scouting combine:

Evans also made sure to praise God when he was picked by the Titans:

After his rookie season, he reminded everyone God is good through the highs and the lows:

And last month, Evans captioned a video of him signing autographs and included Matthew 5:16, which says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by DARRYNTON EVANS (@itzliveee)

After his big week of proposing and getting baptized, Evans now looks forward to returning from injured reserve in Week 4. The Titans travel to Seattle this week to take on the Seahawks at 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday.

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