Fields' Father, Family Provide Plenty Of Fuel

On March 15, 2009, the world lost Alonzo Fields and Evan Fields lost a father.

But while Alonzo’s absence has prevented him from imparting new lessons on his son over the past seven years, the lessons he did leave Evan with are still making a lasting impact to this day.

“We lost him to a car wreck,” Evan’s mother, Evonnda Fields says. “We were all devastated. Evan was pretty devastated, but he says today he’s never forgotten what his dad has instilled in him.

“I know Evan’s dad left a really big impact on him. He lost his dad when he was barely 10 years old and I remember, he told me, ‘Mama, I wouldn’t have ever thought my dad would die. My dad was like Superman.’ That right there let me know how much he felt about his dad.”

Alonzo is missed immensely, but every so often, Evonnda catches a glimpse of him in her son.

“Evan would be little and he’d be trying to sit exactly like his dad,” she laughs. “If his dad wore his hat a certain way, he’d have to wear his hat the exact way his dad would. Every little thing, he would mock it.”

And now that he’s growing up, Evan is beginning to resemble and act like his father even more.

“Oh my gosh, he looks like him and the scariest thing is that his demeanor is identical,” Evonnda says. “My husband has always been known as really humble and very quiet. They’re very quiet, but they’re very in tune, very smart and just don’t talk a lot. He has that quiet spirit, he has the humility, kind of like a peacemaker attitude.

“He just has a very quiet, peaceful demeanor and it’s identical to his dad. Sometimes I have to take a double-take. It’s crazy. He looks like him. He’s soft-spoken like him, but strong.”

In an instant, Evonnda became a single mother of three with Evan, his older brother, Sheldon, and his younger sister, Nyla. It was difficult and still is, but faith, hard work and a desire to make Alonzo proud has led the Fields family to great success.

“I would say the oldest one is pretty much my most intelligent child,” Evonnda says of Sheldon. “They are all smart, but he has that kind of intelligence where he can’t even explain it.”

With Nyla, Evonnda wondered if Alonzo might have been pushing a bit, but he saw something early. After an aptitude test, she was skipped straight up to first grade and began high school at the age of 13. She’s been on Honors with straight A’s ever since.

“Evan is smart as well with a GPA of 3.86 in all AP classes,” she says. “I’ve been blessed. I’ve got three really good, wonderful children.

“Even though I know that death took a toll on him, he doesn’t really show it. He takes it in a positive as far as just working hard, like he’s determined. Nothing can get him off track. It’s amazing to watch Evan. It’s been a joy raising him.”

For Evan, his bond with his father was always football.

When Evan was very small, he would lay on his father’s back while watching football as Alonzo would critique the players while teaching his son.

“Even at the young of age, he always called Evan ‘Dad,’” Evonnda remembers. “He would say, ‘Dad, you see what he just did? You’ve got to do that.’”

When Evan began playing football at the age of four, Alonzo was his coach. When he lost his father, Evan identified the sport as an avenue to continue making him proud.

“In his dad’s obituary, Evan wrote a letter to him and said, ‘Dad, I’m going to take this football thing as far as I can take it,’” Evonnda says. “He even told his dad in the obituary he was going to win the Heisman for him.”

That focus and drive led to enough success at Midwest City High School in Oklahoma where Fields has received scholarship offers from across the country. With a little over a month before National Signing Day, he’s narrowed his options to Notre Dame, Arizona State, Oregon and Kansas State.

“I can’t explain it, but Evan lives, sleeps and eats football,” Evonnda says. “Even to this day, that boy actually sleeps with a football. We’ll play tricks on him and pull it out when he’s in a deep sleep and he reaches up for it.

“My family is a big, big football family and it came from his dad. I can just imagine if Alonzo was still alive just seeing how far Evan has come, he would just be ecstatic. It would be awesome.”

It hasn’t come without a great deal of hard work, though.

Fields’ cousin is Justin Broiles, another top 2017 Oklahoma defensive back target, who is currently committed to the in-state Sooners. When Broiles began working with a trainer in Texas by the name of Clay Mack, his father, Mitch, approached Evonnda about having Evan work with Mack too.

“He said, ‘Evonnda, I’m telling you, I’ve been having Justin see this Clay Mack guy and he’s really gotten better with his footwork, technique, hips, speed and agility,’” Evonnda recalls.

She agreed to let Evan go down with Justin and Mitch Broiles for a session and he was hooked.

“Evan is going to tell you if something feels right or not,” she says. “He was like, ‘Mama, this man is it. I learned so much in those three hours.’ When I tell you Clay Mack works with those boys, he does not let down. If you get offbeat just one foot, you have to go back and do it all again. Evan liked it so much.”

It’s about a three-hour drive each way to get from Oklahoma to where Mack trains outside of Dallas. When Mack is in Oklahoma, they’ll do their best to hook up for a training session, but oftentimes, Evonnda makes the drive to Texas, watches her son train for a few hours and turns around to head back home.

“A lot of times I wouldn’t have the money to get a hotel room, so I would do a complete turnaround, but Evan loves it so much, it’s like, ‘Forget about being tired, I had to be there for my boo,’” she says.

With much of Mack’s work being done during the offseason, the coaches at Midwest City have made major impacts on Fields on and off the field as well.

“Kudos to Jason Sexton, who is the DB coach,” Evonnda says. “He’s taken Evan on a bunch of school visits so they would know who he was in the very beginning. He’s been doing that since sophomore year all of the way up until this point.

“Aaron Thomas is the offensive coach for Midwest City, who is also Evan’s very close mentor. Then you have head coach Darrell Hall. All three of them know Evan’s dad is not here. They’ve taken that boy in and they love him and I see that. I see that they care about him. They’re a great group of guys and they have a great organization at Midwest City.”

When it comes to recruiting, Evonnda admits to being somewhat stressed because she isn’t sure she’ll be able to find the same support system they’ve found at Midwest City.

“He’s got so many dads and my sister, Dr. LaShonda A. Broiles, is also the head principal of Midwest City High School, and she won’t let him backslide,” she says. “He’s naturally smart and works hard, but he has her to oversee it.”

Evonnda acknowledges it’s an exciting process, one they’ve been blessed to go through and that all of the schools are great, but finding the right one is difficult.

“There’s a little bit of stress that comes with that, but I think I’m more stressed out than Evan,” she says. “He doesn’t show it. His demeanor amazes me. I look at him and he doesn’t look stressed. It looks like it doesn’t faze him. He tells me, ‘Mama, it’s going to be OK. Wherever I go, it’s God’s decision and like you always tell me, God doesn’t make mistakes.’

“I tell him that, but then my flesh gets weak. Here it is out of the mouth of babe, he tells me to relax, that it’s going to be OK and God doesn’t make mistakes.”

At least a part of Evonnda wonders if he feels the stress too, but just wants to lighten her load. Either way, it’s clear he’s been listening.

“I would say it’s from me and my husband, my husband I would say number one,” she says. “Both of us always instilled in Evan to keep Christ first and to fear no one but God.

“God is number one, G. O. D. Like I’ve told all three of my children, ‘You keep God on the front line with everything you do. Man will sometimes fail you, but God, the alpha and the omega, will never let you down. Keep that and always remember what me and your dad have instilled in you.’”

Still, it’s tough for her to imagine sending her 18-year-old son so far away.

“That’s just the mommy in me,” she laughs. “That makes me nervous, but we’ve discussed it. We have to walk by faith and not by sight. The distance gets me. When you’re going through the recruiting process, everybody says, ‘Oh, this is the school. This is the right one.’ They seem really cool and really nice.

“I am a skeptical person, so my thing is being afraid of somebody pulling one over my eyes to actually get my son down there and then it’s not what we thought it was. If I can be honest, that’s where I’m at. I’m so used to the clique we have here now throughout his high school career. You’ve got those coaches who are not only coaches, but genuinely love him and mentor him like a dad to him. I understand that he won’t be babied and I’m not expecting that. My thing is that I hope he can be around good Christian people who can do right by him and make him a better man. I want him to be comfortable and cared for.”

But she isn’t leaving anything to chance.

“It’s so sad losing such a great husband,” Evonnda says. “He was my soulmate and my best friend. Losing him was hard and now I’m left out here to do it by myself. I have two sons and one daughter and I’m by myself doing it alone. Here I am trying to guide Evan in this process and I don’t know whether I’m doing this right or doing that right, so I stay on my knees a lot, so they’re getting pretty rusty.”

She laughs and acknowledges Evan makes it easier.

“It’s been a joy watching his process,” she says. “I don’t know if anybody feels like this about their child, but Evan is so humble and such a good, God-fearing person that I actually admire my own child. I admire him.”

The process isn’t over yet and the next chapters of his football career have yet to be written, but Evonnda is moved when she thinks of what they’ve accomplished so far.

“Tears,” she says. “Tears of joy. Have you ever just been so happy and so proud that it just brings tears? That’s where I’m at.

“I am over the top proud of him. I wish his Daddy was here to be able to see it and I pray to God that he’s able to look down from Heaven and see it all and I know it’s possible. I just feel so blessed to have a child like him. I feel so blessed.”

She says she couldn’t have asked for a better son and is convinced one college program is about to find out why.

“Whoever gets Evan, I pray that they’re going to be a blessing to him, but I’m going to tell you right now – and you remember when he starts to play – he’s going to be a blessing to wherever he goes. He is a quiet and humble soul, but his presence is everything, it’s larger than his voice.

“He’s going to make somebody proud on the field and he’s also going to represent off the field. He is an awesome, awesome young man and I believe Evan is going to be a great role model and his future is so bright and I can’t WAIT to see what God has in store for him. I cannot wait. I’m so excited.”