Freak accident led Wallace to choose gridiron

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This article was published 09/05/2024 (520 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gabe Wallace’s journey to becoming a pro football player started with a bowl of popcorn.

He was watching Harry Potter with his two older brothers when they played the seniority card and tasked him with heating up the kernels for their movie night.

Wallace, who was in Grade 5 at the time, reluctantly obliged and a freak accident soon followed.

“I like to say they bullied me into making the popcorn at this tragic event,” clarified Wallace, an offensive lineman chosen in the second round, 17th overall, by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, after Day 2 of rookie camp.

“But yeah, I picked up a big popcorn bowl and there was another bowl suctioned on the bottom of it. The bowl fell off, hit the ground, shattered and a big chunk of glass cut the tendon on the top of my foot. I had to get surgery for that, and then another surgery because that got infected… If the (staph infection) had not been caught, they would’ve had to amputate. It was a pretty terrible year.”

The Salmon Arm, B.C., product came from a hockey family but his recovery forbid him from lacing up the skates that season. By the time he was finally healthy, football was about to start, and his friend recommended he give it a try.

Despite his limited knowledge of the game, he was intrigued. His parents, on the other hand, weren’t keen on the idea as he had to beg them to let him play before they finally gave him the OK.

“The most football I’d seen up to that point was watching (the Adam Sandler film) The Waterboy with my dad a couple times,” said Wallace.

As one of the larger kids, Wallace, who also played rugby as his family lived in New Zealand for just under a decade when he was a youngster, immediately found a home on the O-line. He quickly fell in love with the sport and started to follow his hometown B.C. Lions whose young linebacker Adam Bighill was his favourite player.

When Wallace was in high school, Bighill dropped by one of his community football practices and the two got a picture together.

When veterans report to Bombers camp on Sunday, they can take another picture together, this time, as teammates.

“We were practising in Salmon Arm at a little indoor soccer arena and our coach told us he was there and I was like ‘Holy crap, that’s the Adam Bighill.’ I watched him all the time and I always wanted to play defence because of him,” said Wallace.

“He’s a massive human being. He’s gritty and we believe he plays football the way we like to play it.”– Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea

They also had an encounter when he visited Lions training camp in Kamloops when he was 11.

“They had a youth day, and he was really nice to me. He was one of the only guys (that was), because I was bigger than all the other kids, so I don’t know, they thought I just snuck in or something, but he actually played catch with me a little bit and just made me feel really good,” said the 6-6, 346-pounder.

“And he signed a jersey that I still have.”

While he’s looking forward to catching up with his childhood hero, who has been with the Bombers since 2018, he’s also eager to introduce himself to one of the best offensive line units in the CFL and learn from guys such as Stanley Bryant, Patrick Neufeld and Chris Kolankowski.

Wallace is an intriguing prospect to add to the mix for his size and the fact he played Division I NCAA football at the University of Buffalo which is no easy feat — especially for someone from a small town in B.C. with roughly 18,000 residents. He started 37 games, taking reps at tackle and guard, and was twice named to the All-Mid-American Conference third team.

“He’s a massive human being. He’s gritty and we believe he plays football the way we like to play it,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “Then you talk to him and he’s a good kid. It all added up to when he was available at that pick it would have been a shame not to have him.”

Wallace garnered NFL interest and was expected by many to get selected in the first round of the CFL Draft. At first, he was disappointed he slid to Round 2, but he’s since come to the realization it’s more important to end up in a good situation. The Bombers have had a lot of success developing Canadian blockers in recent years and he hopes he can be their next success story.

“I couldn’t ask for a better room to be a rookie in.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31