Jim Evenson was one of the last of the bruising import fullbacks before the position became mainly a blocking back position staffed by a Canadian.  Evenson played seven years in the CFL from 1968 to 1974, the first five with the BC Lions where he went toe to toe with George Reed for the rushing title in most of those years.  In his rookie season, Evenson finished second to Reed in rushing by a mere two yards (1222 for Reed and 1220 for Evenson).  In his second season (1969), Evenson also finished second to Reed, but wracked up his second 1000+ rushing season with 1287 yards.  In 1970, Evenson finished ahead of Reed in the West in rushing, but still finished second for the third striaght season as Hugh McKinnis of Calgary topped both Evenson and Reed.  Evenson did record his third straight 1000 yard season, rushing for 1003 yards.  1971 saw Evenson break his bridesmaid jinx as he rushed for 1237 yards to capture the West rushing title.  In 1972, Evenson slipped under 1000 yards for the first time in his career, largely du to a more pass orientated offense by the Lions.  Evenson ran for 961 yards on only 184 carries (he had over 200 attempts in the four previous years), giving him his highest average carry in his career of 5.2 yards.  Evenson left BC after 1972 and joined the Ottawa Rough Riders for two seasons.  In 1973, he ran for 911 yards in only 14 games and was an Eastern All-Star.  Injuries finally caught up to Evenson in 1974, and he appeared in only 9 games in his finals season, rushing for 443 uards/  For his career. Evenson rushed for 7060 yards, had four 1000 yard seasons, was a two time All-Canadian (1970 and 1971) and a divisional All-Star four times (1969, 70 and 71 in the West and 1973 in the East).  Surprisingly enough, Evenson has somehow been overlooked so far in Hall-of-Fame voting.

Evenson had one kickoff return for 26 yards in 1974.