It's a Seattle tradition and now as a full-blown Seattlite, Evans was a big part of the festivities for Seafair Weekend.
There are certain elements of Seattle history that most residents hold as vital to the culture of the city.
Among those is Seafair and Sounders FC midfielder Brad Evans experienced all of it firsthand.
Seafair weekend kicked off when Evans was knighted after Thursday morning’s training session at CenturyLink Field. After a brief ceremony surrounded by his teammates, he was then “Sir Brad Evans; Prince of the Pitch.”
That ceremony preceded him joining the Patriots Jet Team for an exhibition on Thursday afternoon. He climbed into the cockpit of an Aero L-39 Albatros. Piloted by former Canadian Air Force Snowbird pilot Rob Mitchel, Evans did some barrel rolls and turned 5.5 Gs on one stunt.
Finally on Sunday, Evans judged a wakeboarding competition and was involved in the weekend’s signature event – the hydroplane races. As Jimmy Shane drove the No. 5 Graham Trucking boat to the winner’s circle in the 2013 Albert Lee Appliances Cup on Lake Washington, it was Evans waving the checkered flag at the finish line.
Although Evans likes to keep things low-key during a typical game week, he knew that being involved in Seafair was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“The week was great. When you have games you want to stay as calm as possible through the week, but this was a big deal,” he said. “I think I’m at the point in my career that it’s not going to be a distraction.”
If it was at all a distraction, Sounders FC may petition to have Seafair move to a year-round schedule. Evans finished Saturday’s match against FC Dallas with one goal and one assist as Seattle won, 3-0.
