Tarpons QB overcame disability to find success in football

Saturday’s playoff game between the Columbus Lions and Florida Tarpons will feature many subplots, but few are more admirable than the story of Tarpons quarterback Chris Wallace.

At age 40, Wallace, a 16-year indoor football veteran, is still playing the game he loves at a high level. For those who knew Wallace as a young child in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio, though, playing football at any level is nothing short of a miracle.

“I wasn’t even supposed to walk when I was born,” Wallace said. “My feet were born backwards. My mom prayed over them, they broke them, and I never had surgery. We went to the doctor and my mom said ‘he can walk.’ I could run and fall down, but that was walking for me.

“They thought she was crazy. They went and got psychiatrists to talk to her. She put me down, and I walked into the doctor’s office.”

And the rest is history.

After graduating high school in Springfield, Wallace stayed in his home state for college with Toledo, throwing for nearly 5,500 yards and 44 touchdowns in his four-year career there.

He has made stops throughout his career with Carolina, Tennessee Valley, and Florida in af2; Orlando, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh in the Arena Football League, and then the Tarpons four out of the past five seasons. He actually faced off in the af2 against Lions head coach Jason Gibson, who was a wide receiver and defensive back for the rival Greensboro Prowlers.

After this season, Wallace will call it quits, heading into a career as an assistant coach.

“Nothing’s bittersweet,” Wallace said of his retirement. “Everything’s all smiles no matter what. I’ve been playing 16 years, had some great games, more good ones than bad ones, and I’ve been able to play all of them but two games in 16 years. That alone is a blessing.

“Even last time we came to Columbus (a 68-54 loss to the Lions), I was enjoying it.”

So how does a quarterback in the grueling game of indoor football keep up the same success as Wallace after 16 years?

“The main thing is to be a sponge. You never know it all,” he said. “You can always learn in this game.”

As athletes mature in any sport, the mental aspect and experience of the game begins to compensate for what is physically lost due to age. For Wallace, that is no different.

“I don’t train like I used to 16 years ago,” he said. “You change with Father Time, a lot of low-impact and low ligament work. They say the game is 80 percent mental, but I believe it’s more 90. You have to see the game before it happens. A lot of mental reps. You have to visualize coverages. You have to visualize adjustments. You also have to have pure confidence in yourself. You have to know where the ball’s going and you have to be able to put it there.”

Wallace also draws in his deep faith for strength after a decade and a half behind center.

“I stay prayed up,” he said. “You can’t play this long and that many games and not have God in your life. I’m a true believer; I’m a deacon at a church. It couldn’t have been done without Him, no way, no how. I said I was going to hang it up four years ago, but God made a way for me to be able to do it, and I owe it all to Him.”

As with the Lions, Florida has run into the problem of blowing out their competition. After their loss to Columbus on Apr. 23, they won their next four games by an average of 59 points and a combined score of 303-67. Tarpon veterans like Wallace have helped keep things in perspective for the younger players and avoid bad habits from forming.

“You stress to the young guys ‘it’s not always going to be like this,’ ” Wallace said. “You got away with something this game, but you won’t be able to in the next game. You take those games and you stay coaching. You don’t bask in the sun because you’re scoring on a post route where that (defensive back) probably wouldn’t make our team or Columbus’ team.

“You’re constantly coaching and not letting the young guys realize you’re up (big), you stay on them and you just hope to get through that game with no injuries. It’s hard if you’re young and enjoying success, but do it against someone that counts.”

With a maximum of two games left in his career, Wallace is looking forward to staying in the game as an assistant.

“I’m definitely going to try and put some khakis on,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve got a lot of knowledge to give. I’ve been calling my own plays here for the Tarpons the past four years, and I did the last couple of years with the (af2) Firecats. The interesting part will be transferring that to another quarterback, so they can see what I see. The easy thing is calling plays. I know what I’m looking for, but the task is going to be relaying that to another quarterback. That’s what coaching’s about.

“I’m having fun. I’ve made a lot of friends in this game. This is a fraternity.”

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 8:55 PM with the headline "Tarpons QB overcame disability to find success in football."