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Al Wallace

American football player (born 1974)

Alonzo Dwight Wallace (born March 25, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills. He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins.

01Early life

Wallace attended Spanish River Community High School in Boca Raton, Florida. As a junior, he played running back and rushed for over 500 yards.

As a senior, he was a two-way player at outside linebacker and wide receiver, while tallying 31 receptions for 571 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also practiced basketball.

02College career

Wallace accepted a football scholarship from the University of Maryland, College Park, to play wide receiver in a run and shoot offense. He instead was moved to linebacker under head coach Mark Duffner.

As a redshirt freshman in 1993, he was a backup, playing in 9 games and making 18 tackles (10 solo). As a sophomore, he became a starter, registering 39 tackles (27 solo), 3 sacks (led the team) and 8 tackles for loss (led the team).

As a junior, he started 10 out of 11 games at outside linebacker, recording 47 tackles (38 solo) and 5 sacks. He also lined up at tight end in several games.

As a senior, he started 9 games, while making 40 tackles (33 solo) and being named to the AD's Honor Roll for the fifth consecutive semester. He finished his college career with 108 tackles and 12 sacks.

03Professional career

Wallace was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent after the 1997 NFL draft on April 21. He was tried at outside linebacker during training camp. He was waived on August 19 and later signed to the practice squad. He spent the first 13 regular season games on the team's practice squad before being released in November.

On December 2, 1997, he was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles. On September 5, 1999, he was placed on the injured reserve list with a fractured and dislocated ankle. He was released on August 28, 2000.

In 2001, he signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bears. He was waived injured on August 28.

In March 2002, he signed as a free agent with the Miami Dolphins, after spending a year out of football. On July 19, he was traded along with a 4th round draft choice (#119-Colin Branch) to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for defensive end Jay Williams.

In 2002, he was a backup defensive end behind Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker. In 2003, he had 38 tackles, 5 sacks, 9 quarterback hurries, 5 passes defensed and 2 interceptions, while playing in Super Bowl XXXVIII. He also played a key role on a special teams unit that blocked 5 kicks in the first 2 games of the season.

Wallace, along with fellow Maryland alumni Kris Jenkins, Peppers, Rucker and Brentson Buckner established a formidable defensive line rotation from 2002 to 2006, which many experts considered to be among the best during that time span.

In 2006, he registered 30 tackles, 3 sacks and 13 quarterback hurries. On February 19, 2007, he was released because of salary cap reasons. He appeared for the Panthers in 80 regular season games and 7 postseason contests, while never missing a game.

On August 22, 2007, he was signed as a free agent by the Buffalo Bills, for depth purposes behind Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay. On September 1, he was placed on the injured reserve list. He wasn't re-signed after the season. During his career he played in 96 games, posting 187 tackles (126 solo), 23 sacks and 4 interceptions.

04NFL career statistics

Regular season

Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GPGSCombSoloAstSckIntYdsTDLngFFFRYdsTD
1997PHI 100000.000000000
1998PHI 1500006.000000000
2002CAR 164292543.000001201
2003CAR 162383085.02580530100
2004CAR 160262331.000002100
2005CAR 162252055.02380381160
2006CAR 162251963.000000000
96101431172623.04960534561

Playoffs

Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GPGSCombSoloAstSckIntYdsTDLngFFFRYdsTD
2003CAR 409451.500000000
2005CAR 302110.000000000
7011561.500000000
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Al Wallace, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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