‘Football cured my son’: How a Wichita star running back overcame Tourette Syndrome
Tears streamed down the face of Tonya Cantu, as she watched from the stands as her son was named Maize South High School’s Homecoming King.
What a sight to behold, she thought, watching the boy who used to not be able to look anyone in the eye or handle attention now donning a crown perched atop his head with hundreds of his peers in the student section chanting his name in adoration. He even blew a kiss to the crowd in appreciation.
To everyone else watching, the scene playing out made total sense: Evan Cantu is the star running back of the Maize South football team, popular among his classmates and has a contagious smile. You know, the typical Homecoming King.
But his journey to becoming the leading rusher in the state of Kansas has been anything other than typical. Many don’t know Cantu has battled social anxiety disorder and Tourette Syndrome since he was a child.
“Never in a million years did I think my son would ever be crowned king,” Tonya Cantu said. “Never in a million years did I think my son would be the top rusher in the state. If you would have asked us 10 years ago, we would have never believed that this would be our son.”
But from the confidence gained from football, Evan Cantu believes the struggles from his conditions are in his past. His 1,371 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns through six weeks this season certainly seem to indicate that is the case.
“Ever since I got on the football field, I’ve been able to get a lot off my shoulders,” Evan Cantu said. “I believe all of that stuff is in my past now and I’ve overcome it with the best sport in the world. Ever since I started playing, all of it just went away. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without football.”
‘He wasn’t going to amount to anything’
When Evan Cantu was a young boy, he would barely talk, even around his family, and the only thing he hated more than looking someone in the eye was making physical contact with them, like to hug.
Simply put, he panicked every time he felt attention on him.
“If we were going to a birthday party or something, we couldn’t be the last ones there,” Tonya Cantu said. “He could not walk into a room with people looking at him like that. We had to get there early, so he would be one of the first ones there.”
His parents suspected Evan could have autism, so they took him to doctors when he was four years old for testing. The doctors informed them Evan did not have autism, but what he did have social anxiety disorder.
Still, the diagnosis did not explain away some of the unusual behavior Evan was starting to display. He was jerking his head, blurting out random words and sticking his tongue out all seemingly randomly.
And it was starting to land Evan in trouble.
In the second grade, he was disciplined so often by his teacher for sudden outbursts that he had to take home a behavior sheet to his parents. In tee-ball, he was chided by his coaches for his behavior. Even at family gatherings, he had to endure comments about the way he acted.
“We had so many people tell us when Evan was growing up that he wasn’t going to amount to anything,” Tonya Cantu said. “It was never his friends or the children. It was always the adults. That’s what was sad.”
The situation finally came to a head one day when Evan was in the third grade and his mother picked him up from school. During the car ride home, Evan’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he suffered a seizure.
His mother rushed him to an emergency room, where doctors initially feared Evan might have a brain tumor. His parents were relieved when further testing revealed their son did not have a brain tumor, but they were stunned when doctors came back with a new diagnosis: Evan had Tourette Syndrome.
“The first thing I thought was, ‘Oh my God, this kid is going to be in trouble,’” Cesar Cantu said. “Society is all about socializing and he’s going to have problems doing that.”
“I’m a big sports mom and I was just devastated,” Tonya Cantu said. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, my son is never going to be able to play sports.’ My oldest boy is 31 and we went through sports with him and it was the most fun in my life. When I had another boy, I was so excited to be a sports mom again. I remember after that just feeling defeated and devastated that my kid was never going to be able to play sports.”
‘Football cured my son’
In the fall of the same year Evan was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, he decided he wanted to play football for the first time.
His parents were nervous about how things would go, especially after the poor experience in tee-ball. So they went to the football coaches before the season to explain Evan’s condition and were comforted by how receptive the coaches were to the unique situation.
And then all of the concerns about Evan’s capability of playing sports were erased after his first junior football game. It turns out, he’s a natural at running back.
“It’s like he was in his own world when he was on the football field,” Tonya Cantu said. “He didn’t see the people staring at him. He didn’t mind the attention. He was a totally different kid.”
There were still challenges for Evan playing with his conditions that first year. In a game in Hutchinson, Evan’s tic that week was a head jerk and it returned during the game. Because he kept jerking his head, the referees thought Evan had a concussion and wouldn’t allow him to return to the game, despite his parents’ pleas trying to explain to the officials that it was a disorder of Tourette Syndrome.
But as the years went along, football turned out to be like a magic trick for Evan: when he stepped on the field, his social anxiety began to vanish and so did his tics. Before long, they completely went away — even away from the football field.
“When he started playing football, he became this different kid,” Cesar Cantu said. “He used to be this shy kid who wouldn’t talk to anybody. Football turned him into this machine. I mean he was just a beast. When he was on the field, you could tell he was in his element.”
Up until the day he put on a football helmet, Evan was made to feel like an outsider in life. He was constantly in trouble for things he could not control. But when he started playing football, he experienced what it was like to excel at something for the first time. Finally, he felt what it was like to be celebrated for his achievements, instead of feeling like an outcast.
To this day, Evan believes the confidence he gained from playing football helped him “conquer” his conditions.
“Ever since the day I got on the football field, all of a sudden I started getting better,” Evan said. “I was able to get a lot of stress off my shoulders. It boosted my confidence. I couldn’t wait for game days. I think my love for football changed who I am and just my passion for the game helped me move forward.”
Football also helped Evan develop strong friendships for the first time. In fact, a handful of those teammates on his third-grade football team are now his classmates and best friends at Maize South: Caleb Crumm, Ashton Short, Taiten Luce and Eric Berlin.
“They’ve always had my back from Day One,” Evan said. “They will always have my respect and I can’t thank those dudes enough because without them, I would probably be one lonely dude.”
It’s hard not to think that the way life has played out since Evan’s introduction to football hasn’t been the best-case scenario.
“There were a lot of tears over the years worrying about him and if he was going to be able to live a normal life,” Tonya Cantu said. “You don’t know if he was always going to be ridiculed or made fun of if he struggled with Tourette’s later in life. Is he going to be a recluse and not have any friends? Those are the questions we were worried about.
“If Evan didn’t find football, I don’t believe we would have the same Evan we have today. There’s no way. That’s why I really do believe football cured my son.”
‘Evan can take us a lot of places’
Evan Cantu loves everything about the game of football.
He looks forward to each practice. He logs hours in film study. He can’t get enough in the weight room. And he can’t wait for Friday nights.
“I think about football all day everyday,” Cantu said. “Football is always on my mind. When I’m on the field, it just warms my heart. I love it.”
The rest of the Maize South football team feels the same way when Cantu is on the field. The offense has been carried by Cantu, who averages 25.3 carries per game and better than 228 rushing yards per game.
There have been games, like last week against Maize when Cantu carried 38 times, when Maize South coach Brent Pfeifer has been concerned about Cantu’s heavy workload.
“I honestly don’t know if we can stop the kid,” Pfeifer said. “Just when you think he’s tired, he breaks one for 70 yards. It would be great if we didn’t have to hand it to him that much, but when he’s still getting 10 yards a carry, why stop?”
At 5-foot-9 and a muscular 193 pounds, Cantu said he is able to handle such a heavy workload because of his year-round preparation in the weight room. According to Cantu, he can squat 545 pounds, bench press 345 pounds and power clean 335 pounds.
“I train and take care of my body like a college player would,” Cantu said. “My training helps my body take all of those hits. I feel like I’m getting stronger every week. I love lowering my shoulder and with the mass I have, it feels like I can run through people.”
It also helps having running lanes paved by a physical offensive line of Brady Claassen, Daniel Jantz, Jaden Wilson, Ashton Short and Karsten Shields. Cantu makes sure to list each off individually after yet another 200-yard performance, even though he almost always makes the first (and usually the second) defender miss.
“I’m really proud of how we’ve blocked this season, but I’m going to be completely honest, there are times when I’ll miss my block and Evan will just run straight through the guy,” Maize South senior tight end Caleb Crumm said. “That’s just how this season has been going.”
For context, Cantu is on pace to eclipse 2,000 rushing yards if Maize South plays the minimum of one postseason game. The Mavericks (5-1) are ranked No. 7 in Class 5A and are currently the fourth seed in the West standings entering Friday’s game at Hays.
Pfeifer believes his team’s ability to run, courtesy of Cantu, makes Maize South a contender for a deep playoff run this season.
“The teams that are consistently good and go deep into November are the teams that can run the ball,” Pfeifer said. “If you don’t have a run game, it’s really hard to go deep into the season. For us to have that, we know if we can put a few other pieces together, Evan can take us a lot of places.”
Regardless of how far Cantu can help Maize South go in the postseason, his story is already one of triumph.
He hopes he can serve as inspiration to other families who are currently struggling with a child diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome. And to those who aren’t, he hopes his story proves that disorders can be overcome and things can get better.
“My advice to them would be to just try to find something you love as much as I love football and hang out with people who love the same thing,” Cantu said. “Whatever you’re going through, just keep pushing through and keep working. I always try to break my own limits and become the best version of myself that I can be.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 5:59 AM.
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