New Giant Evan Neal seems quiet, but he can bring the enthusiasm when needed

Don’t be lulled by Evan Neal.

He may seem like a quiet sort, the gentle 337-pound giant Giant who described himself as “pretty much a laid-back guy,” “introverted” and “more reserved.” He may project as a small-town Florida kid whose eyes are squinting from the bright lights of New York, where he’s admitted to being daunted by the pace of life, bracing for “culture shock” and being entertained by how people in New Jersey “talk funny.” And he certainly has been somewhat overshadowed during his brief Giants career by his fellow first-round pick, the maelstrom of personality that is Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was selected two spots ahead of him.

But anyone who was in the pregame locker room for the IMG Academy opening night contest against American Heritage in Plantation, Florida, on Aug. 20 last year knows that calm demeanor can change in an instant.

IMG coach Billy Miller had asked Neal, then the starting left tackle at Alabama, if he wouldn’t mind sending a quick video that might inspire his old football team. What Neal delivered in the video obtained by Newsday was a half-minute Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation that left everyone who saw it throbbing with energy and tapped into the zeitgeist of those players like few things Miller had ever seen.

“Some of you guys may know me and some may not,” Neal said rather tranquilly, staring into his phone to make the recording. “But I just wanted to let you guys know heading into your first game on Friday that . . . ”

Well, let’s just say most of the next few seconds can’t be printed. He urged them to “take no prisoners” and “take pride” in the logo on their jerseys. “You know how we do it,” he concluded. “Let’s get this Dub.”

“Let me tell you, it was epic,” Miller said. “It started real calm and then all of a sudden, 15 seconds into it, boom, he turned it on and the boys went nuts. He’s really, really good.”

Did it work? Did IMG win?

“Of course we did,” Miller scoffed. Final score: 35-15.

That’s the player the Giants are getting, Miller wants everyone who roots for the Giants to know. That’s the leader they will be lining up at right tackle and building their offense around, potentially for the next decade-plus. It’s not the chill guy in the eyeglasses, it’s the monster he turns into when he needs to.

“He’s always been a leader,” said IMG football properties manager Don Zoloty, recalling a time during Neal’s sophomore season at IMG — his first year at the school and shortly after he had left home at the age of 14 to essentially chase his NFL dream at the boarding school for athletic prodigies and others — that he gave a pregame speech to his own squad on behalf of a senior who was coming back from injury to play in his final high school game. “To have a sophomore go ahead and talk like that in front of the whole team and let them know that he’s a team guy says a lot about his character.”

In the IMG locker room        — a facility that is bigger and more decked out than the one that Neal now will have access to with the Giants, by the way — there is a photograph on the wall of the team coming into a stadium for one of its games. “He’s the guy leading them out of the tunnel,” Miller said. “That’s a big dude to lead coming out of the tunnel. But he’s 100% a leader.”

Neal will have to earn his way to the front of the team for speeches and inspiration as a rookie with the Giants. He’s only 21 years old and will be on a roster of men now, not boys who get riled up by some R-rated language and pseudo-military suggestions. Even his own position group already has some alphas on it, including returning left tackle Andrew Thomas and new center Jon Feliciano, who has emerged as one of the developing group’s early voices. Neal will be paying attention, learning to be a pro, taking it all in.

At some point, the Neal who riled up IMG in legendary fashion in the span of a half-minute will be standing in front of the Giants.

“That was Evan in his football mode,” Neal said of the video he sent to IMG last fall, a giggle of embarrassment present. “I had turned the switch on, just fired the guys up for sure. It was a pretty special moment for them. I’m thankful I got the opportunity to share a little bit of wisdom and just help motivate those guys going into the game.”

Asked how often that side of his personality comes out, the jovial smile disappeared. Neal glowered from behind his spectacles as if to give just a whiff of the intensity being discussed:

“Every time I line up on the football field.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.