Tabari Wallace – A Picture of Pirate Perseverance
Pirate Time Machine No. 1
With
Ron Cherubini
©2001 Bonesville.net
Like many ECU football fans, it is hard for me
to think of the 1994-97 era without thinking of one particular player who
truly epitomizes the never-say-die, against-all-odds mindset that has served
the football program so well over the decade of the ‘90s.
Tabari "Snoop" Wallace walked his way
into Pirate lore by reminding the Pirate faithful that if you want something
bad enough and are willing to work hard enough, great things can happen.
Along the way, Wallace turned out to be a pretty good football player. So
much so that today, the 6-0, 185-pound defensive back is still playing
football and still chasing his dream of playing in the National Football
League.
Wallace was an exceptional
prep athlete when he roamed the defensive backfield at New Bern High School
in the early ‘90s. College coaches were aware of him, but he had a couple
factors working against him. First, he was a bit of a feather merchant,
tipping the scales in the low 160s, and second, he played with the likes of
Brian Simmons, Jeremy McDaniel, and Stacey Whitehead— all Division I
recruits and two still playing in the NFL.
“(ECU) was looking at me when
I was at New Bern, but I was just 165 pounds," explained Wallace. "I was overshadowed by Brian
and Stacy, but it's because of them coaches also saw me... But
I was like, saying, ‘Damn it, I’m going to play football.’ Coach (Steve)
Logan basically told me to come on in and work out and we’d see what
happened from there.”
Wallace made good on his
promise to himself, earning a scholarship in his red shirt freshman season.
After both Hart twins went down
to injury against Central Florida and a trip to the Liberty Bowl hung in the
balance, the smallish walk-on “Snoop” Wallace intercepted a pass sent his
way, ensuring a win in the closing moments of the game— leaving an
instant-lasting impression. The rest, as they
say, is history as Wallace went on to earn a starting position his junior
year and finished as one of the great stories of Pirate perseverance paying
off.
Today, Wallace is the same
guy, driving toward a new set of goals. He is a little older at 25 and a
little wiser with a B.A. in physical rehabilitation and a Master’s degree in
the same discipline. He is presently working towards yet another Master’s Degree in Education,
and is no
less driven to attain his dreams despite the seeming mountain before him.
“The feeling that you have
really succeeded is greater when you had to walk on, when you weren’t
supposed to be a real player,” said Wallace. “That is a great feeling because of
all the people around, you had to believe in yourself more to succeed.”
Snoop’s belief in himself
took the defensive back on a roller coaster ride of a football career since
he last strapped on his Pirate gear. After graduation, he sat through the
NFL draft, thinking he might hear his name as a late rounder, but ultimately
was disappointed.
A phone call did come that
day, however, as he signed a free-agent deal with Pittsburgh and headed off,
once again, to prove himself. What he learned was more than he ever
imagined.
“You learn right away why
(pro players) get paid the big bucks,” he said. “Every day is a war out
there," he explained, "every minute is structured. I was waived on the second cut down after
Chad Scott blew out his knee and (the Steelers) decided that they needed a
veteran. I tried to catch on with another team, but that late in camp it is
difficult. I didn’t know what I was going to do, so I went back to get my
Master’s.”
It wasn’t long before he was
at it again, this time in the Arena League II. Lifelong friend and co-Pirate
Whitehead was playing in Peoria, Illinois and called Wallace.
“He told me that he had been
talking me up to the coach,” he said. “Stacey told me that they were looking
for DBs. Coach (Bruce) Cowdry saw the one tape I sent him and the next thing
I know, I’m on a plane for Peoria.”
Wallace quickly learned that
to succeed in AII, you really had to love the game because you weren’t going
to make a load of dough.
“That was a huge change from
where I had just left,” he said. “You make a nice chunk of change in an NFL
camp, enough to run me for a year. It isn’t like that in the Arena League
(II). But, it is a good developmental league.”
Strong performances in Peoria
begat a three-year offer from an expansion club in the Arena League first
division with the Houston Thunderbears last year, where the payoff is
two-fold. First, the pay is enough to live a little better; second, in the
wake of St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner’s jump to the NFL, the Arena
I league has become a picking ground for NFL clubs.
“The Texans called me and I
plan on being in camp for next season. I was ecstatic. I’m going to make
this one. Now, I just got to prepare, use everything I learned in
Pittsburgh,” he said. “I haven’t given up on playing in the NFL, not at
all.”
In the interim, as he has over the past two seasons
during the Arena off season, Wallace is a coach at New Bern High School,
serving as defensive backs coach. The coaching means a great deal to
Wallace, who takes great joy in watching kids who love the
game.
Tabari "Snoop" Wallace. Photo by Chris Whitford.
“It really reinforces the
game in me,” he remarked. “Coaching… it’s great. You look at these kids on Friday
night and it just kills me. You see them make a play and you know, ‘there it
is, they really got it that time.’ Of course, it also gets at you because
you just want to go out there and play. Show them everything you have been
trying to teach them.
“I think being close to their
age and still playing helps. Players hate it when a coach never played. They
want to question that coach because they don’t know if he really knows what
they are feeling, from a player’s angle.”
Talking to Wallace, you get
the feeling that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he weren’t
completely busy. To that end, he is in Graduate School, again. He is
coaching. And, as always, he is training, training, training— in preparation
for another season of Arena I and, somewhere out there, another shot at his
dream.
“If it doesn’t happen, it
won’t be because I didn’t give it everything I had.”
----- |
|
TABARI WALLACE BIO BOX |
 Name:Tabari
"Snoop" Wallace
Houston Thunderbears |
|
Age:
25
. |
|
Sport:
Football
. |
|
Years at ECU:
1994-97
. |
|
Position/Jersey No.
Defensive Back/ No. 28
. |
|
Hometown:
New Bern, NC
. |
|
Currently Resides:
Greenville, NC
. |
|
Occupation:
|
|
ECU Degree(s)
|
|
Marital Status:
Single
. |
Photo by Chris Whitford.
|
TEN
QUESTIONS |
|
1. Who is your
favorite current Pirate and Why? “I gotta go with
David (Garrard). You know, he was there when I was there and he was the
scout team quarterback. We tore his little fat tail up back then. But,
he’s got something. That Pirate pride.”
. |
|
2. What do you
miss most about ECU? “I miss the
atmosphere of college life. Those years really are the best of your life.”
. |
|
3. Where is your
favorite spot on the ECU campus? “On the
yard…definitely. In front of the Student Store. You know, I was a Kappa
Alpha Psi and we took step shows to the yard.”
. |
|
4. What was your
dorm room and favorite dorm story? “311 Scott Hall.
I was in with Dwight Linville. The Hart twins kinda brought me into the
suite, you know, initiated me, but MoFo (Morris Foreman) was definitely
the daddy. He ran that suite. E.J. Gunthrope was there. Life was different
in that suite, no doubt. There were many card games and the court yard was
great.”
. |
|
5. Greatest Moment
as a Pirate football player? “The game
against Wake Forest. Right before the game, when we were stretching, they
came to the middle of our field and did that ritual they did. They came
across our 45 and one of their players thumped me. It got to my pride and
there was nearly a brawl right there at midfield. That same guy was in my
head all day and then I picked off a pass and then our team scored… it was
great.”
. |
|
6. Most disliked
opponent? “Easy – I hate
State.”
. |
|
7. Athletic
Influences? “My brother
Carnell. He played with for Winston-Salem State and then Tampa Bay for
three years. I remember all his trophies in the trophy case at our house.
There were four of us brothers, all fighting for mom’s attention, I always
wanted to get more trophies than him. Seriously, he has always been with
me and is my biggest fan now. I call him and we talk about everything,
anything.”
. |
|
8. Favorite coach? “Jim Fleming. He
is at Vanderbilt now, I think. He was my position coach at ECU. He is the
one that took a chance on me and put me in a game. It wasn’t a very
popular decision at the time, but he did it and I owe him a lot for that
confidence he had in me. Of course, I’ll always love Coach Connors and
Coach Logan.”
. |
|
9. Best Locker Room
Story “We were playing
Central Florida the year after they had hurt Marcus Crandell. And coach
Logan…man, he loved Marcus, you know, it was quarterback thing. Anyway,
Logan flipped out before the game saying like, ‘if you guys are going to
let someone take a cheap shot like that at one of our own,’…then he picked
up a brand new projector and slammed it into the table. It broke into
pieces and then he kicked the buggie. It was a very serious moment and we
went out there and took care of business.”
. |
|
10. Best Emerald
City hangout? “The Mack
nightclub off of 5th Street…that was a great place and then, of
course, BW-3s on Tuesday nights…good place.”
. |
|
Click here to jump to the
Pirate Time Machine Archives |
|
