Wintry Buffalo, humble style can't totally obscure gifted Evans

Yes, there is a football god.

There must be because one of my favorite receivers, Lee Evans of the Buffalo Bills, just had the game of his life. You know what I'm talking about: That 265-yard effort against Houston that included a pair of 83-yard scores.

Through the Bills' many troubles, Lee Evans has just shut up and played. (US PRESSWIRE)

That was marvelous. So were Evans' 11 catches. But you know what I liked most about his record-setting performance? What Evans did after each score: nothing.

He didn't spike the ball. He didn't dance. He didn't practice jump shots. He didn't propose to a cheerleader or box a goal post or burp the football. He didn't do anything, which is the way it's always been with Lee Evans.

He scores. He drops the ball. He jogs to the sidelines.

"It's just something I've always done," said Evans the next day. "I like to celebrate with my teammates more than anything. Getting to the end zone is a hard thing, so I want to be with the guys who helped get me there. That's just how I am."

So different from other wide receivers in today's game. Take the Cowboys' Terrell Owens. Please. He scores against Washington, then reclines in the end zone as if taking a nap. Clever, huh? It costs the Cowboys a 15-yard penalty and incurs the anger of his head coach.

You never see that from Evans, though he admitted teammates have been after him to do something ... anything ... to liven things up. He's not sure if they're serious or not. What he does know is that he's not biting, and hallelujah.

"That's just not me," he said.

Though I like it, my guess is that TV does not. Program directors want flamboyance, angst and controversy, which means they're showing you a lot more Terrell Owens footage than they are Lee Evans.

OK, so Owens plays for a better team and works in a much larger market. And, yes, there's a certain cache' the Dallas Cowboys have that Buffalo does not. But what makes Owens more attractive than Evans?

... I'm waiting.

I remember watching Evans turn cornerbacks inside out at Buffalo's training camp last summer and asking that very question. One of the team's executives volunteered that maybe, just maybe, it had to do with Evans' demeanor; that because he didn't act like a clown in the end zone he didn't gain national attention.