Pitarresi: Tough guy Evashevski started at Hamilton

 

 

Forest Evashevski died the other day. Evashevski was a savage blocking back for Tommy Harmon and captain at Michigan. He began his coaching career at Hamilton College in 1941, then gained famed for winning two Rose Bowls at Iowa in the 1950s. His best known player probably was Alex Karas, who went on to a great career with the Lions, then was as a Monday Night Football commentator and actor. Evashevski and Karras had an all-out fistfight when Karras played for the Hawkeyes. Not too long ago Evashevski said he got a call from Karras apologizing for his behavior – like 50 years after the fact. Which sounds just like Alex Karras.

 

Waterville’s Milt Jannone, Hamilton’s first All-American, played for Evashevski, and so when Jannone was inducted into the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, I called Evashevski in Florida to get his recollections  He told me that Jannone, a great all-around athlete, was better than any back he had at Iowa. Jannone pooh-poohed that, but it was a great compliment.

 

Evashevski had a reputation as a very tough guy, a stern taskmaster who many players hated, but he also was revered by many as a builder of men and father figure. I know when I spoke to him – he was 81 or so at the time – he was as pleasant and as engaging as could be.

 

Evashevski’s College Football Hall of Fame plaque, by the way, rests in the trophy case in the lobby of the Hamilton gym. I imagine there are very few people at the college who have any idea who he was. He’s was there just one year before going into the Navy, but I guess he liked the place, which is nice to know.