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Page 6B/The Battalion/Monday, August 29, 1988
Wallace thrives in th
s
Photo by Jay Jm;
Ask former Heisman Trophy candidate if Aaron lace established himself early in 1987 asoned
Wallace can cause damage in the backfield. Wal- the top linebackers in the Southwest Conferenct
The Other Blitz Brother’ relaxes
on the road to All-America status
By Hal L. Hammons
Sports Editor
August 6, 1988: Texas A&M Me
dia Day.
Hundreds of fans mill about Kyle
Field looking for their favorite Ag
gie football players. Many of them
are armed with cameras, looking to
get a photograph of one of the gi
ants in white.
The star of the show is easy to spot
— the man with the number 83 on
his back and a hugejjjthrong of ad
mirers surrounding him, looking for
an autograph from the man who al
most certainly will be one of the first
10 or 15 players chosen in the 1989
NFL draft.
John Roper: All-America, Lom
bardi Trophy candidate, voted
Southwest Conference Defensive
Player of the Year by everyone who
had eyes last year. The very name is
becoming synonymous with A&M
linebackers.
About 40 feet away stands a dif
ferent player — different in almost
every sense of the word.
No hordes of autograph-hunters
swarm him; occasionally a young fan
asks him to sign his football or some
parents will ask for a picture of him
holding their young child.
But as often as not he stands
alone, looking out of place — almost
lost.
It’s representative of the way his
exploits frequently are overlooked
on the football Field. He’s always be
ing compared to The Man. Seldom
is he recognized for his own abilities
and accomplishments.
If any other linebacker had
amassed 12 sacks on the season in
1988, no doubt he would have been
swamped with admirers and writers
alike. Playing for any other team, al
most certainly he would have been
the center of attention.
But Aaron Wallace plays across
the Field from the All-American.
’Nuff said.
So last year, when Wallace regis
tered a bone-crushing sack on na
tional television, it was not unusual
to hear commentators talk about
how the blockers were overcompen
sating on Roper’s side.
He’s always “the other Blitz
Brother,” never “that incredible out
side linebacker from Texas A&M.”
John Roper casts a long shadow,
there can be no doubt. But Aaron
Wallace doesn’t mind standing in the
shade.
He just goes about his task, doing
n.ost of the talking on the Field and
living his off-field life in his own
sld;v, methodical way.
I'i he’s in a hurry to catch Roper
on tfe field, it doesn’t show up in his
gait m everyday life. It is almost a
joke among his teammates, the way
he slovly shuffles around. Always
nice ’n tasy.
It even shows up when he signs an
autograph; eschewing the typical,
superstar scrawl, he carefully forms
each letter so there can be no mis
take what tame is written. He even
adds “# 23 v when he’s Finished, al
most as if he accepts it as fact that his
number is faV more known to fans
than his name
He talks thesame way he walks —
slowly. You dor.’t get the impression
that he doesn’t like to talk — it’s
more like he’s taking his time about
it, amking sure of every word.
What’s the rush, avter all? He knows
that if a reporter a&.s him a question,
the reporter will be willing to wait
for an answer.
Slow and sure — that describes al
most everything about Wallace. Ev
erything except his action on the
field.
Teammate and fellow-linebacker
Dana Batiste says, “He’s slow off the
field but fast on the field. He walks
slow, he talks slow. But when he gets
on the field he has an acceleration
about him. It’s exciting.”
He hasn’t been slow about climb
ing to his potential, either.
As a sophomore last year, unsure
of even a starting position at the be
ginning of the year, quickly he estab
lished himself as one of the top line-
backers in the Southwest
Conference.
The accolades don’t quite read
like those of Roper, but they are
quite impressive in their own right:
Named second-team All-SWCbyik
Associated Press, Dallas Momin;
News, Houston Post and Houstm
Chronicle', first-team All-SWC to
the San Antonio Light; ESPli
player-of-the-game in A&M’s win
over Texas; honorable mention All
America.
And what lies ahead, only time
will tell.
A&M Defensive CoordinatorR.C.
Slocum: “He has really great poten
tial to be a great outside linebacker
— as much as anybody around. 1
don’t know if players like Aaron
really know how great they can be
He’s in the position where he’s stan
ing to realize he can be a great play
er.”
A&M Outside Linebacker Goad)
Boh Davie: “Aaron is a guy
(abc
doii
he v
came
and d
We p
with
else I
of pi
much
vhth a
Bal
,
<•> : , ■■ ••• \
Wallace put the heat on quarterbacks as a freshman. But in 1986
who could have guessed how common this sight would become?
Now that’s improvement!
Aaron Wallace’s statistics 1987 1986
Tackles .73 9
Unassisted tackles.... 47 7
Assisted tackles 26 2
Fumbles caused 6.... 0
Quarterback pressures 12 0
Quarterback sacks 12 5
Tackles for losses 9 .....0
Passes broken up 1 0
Tackles — game high (opponent) 13 (UT) 3 (NTSU,Rti
fine
with
way
vant
D
yom
tura
D
erne
broi
diff
(wh
W
that