NATCHITOCHES – A decades-long staple of the Northwestern State athletic department, the late longtime athletic trainer Ed Evans is the Exchange Bank and Trust Demon Great of the Game for Saturday's game against Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
Evans spent 23 years as the head athletic trainer at Northwestern from 1989-2012, succeeding his mentor, Eugene "Doc" Christmas.
 
Evans, a U.S. Navy veteran who spent the majority of his professional career at Northwestern and Natchitoches Central High School, left his mark on NSU as part of an athletic training tree that served the department for nearly half a century.
 
After seven years at Natchitoches Central, Evans returned to Northwestern, where he had previously served as a graduate assistant, in the summer of 1989. During his time at Northwestern State, Evans' reputation spread well past Natchitoches.
 
Evans spent six years as the president of the Louisiana Athletic Trainers Association and six more as the group's secretary/treasurer. He was inducted into the LATA Hall of Fame in 2000.
 
Four years later, he was named the regional College Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Southeastern Athletic Trainers Association – a seven-state consortium that stretches from Louisiana to Kentucky. He was a member of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners' Advisory Committee on Athletic Training and was appointed to the Governor's Council for Physical Fitness by then Gov. Mike Foster in 2000.
 
The Exchange Bank and Trust Demon Great of the Game is in its second decade of honoring former Northwestern State student-athletes and staff members. Exchange Bank and Trust has been a key supporter of Northwestern State Athletics throughout its long history as the oldest financial institution in Louisiana.