Tucson native Levi Wallace looks to ‘reinvent myself’ after retiring from the NFL

The Tucson native and cornerback officially retired following seven seasons in the NFL. Wallace, who made nearly $14 million in career earnings, played for the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I’ve been retired for a while, honestly,” Wallace said on ESPN Tucson’s “Spears & Ali” Tuesday morning. “People are making a big deal out of it because I officially announced it. Mentally, I’ve been done, so I’m doing other stuff and venturing out and seeing what else is out there. I have to, in a sense, reinvent myself and realize, ‘What is it that I really want do besides football, a sport I’ve been playing since I was 5 years old?’ I’ve enjoyed it. I’m excited for what next season holds.”

Wallace, who currently lives in Phoenix, plans to pursue becoming an agent and mentor up-and-coming football players, “just trying to help the next generation do what I’ve done and be as successful as I was — or even more so,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to building that and using things I’ve learned as a player and pass it on to the next generation,” Wallace said.

Wallace dedicated the last 25 years to playing football. For the first time in his life, “you sit there and you ask yourself why you’re playing,” Wallace said. That’s when he knew that maybe it was best to retire at 31 years old.

“I love the sport and what it brought me and the success that I had,” Wallace said. “But at some point, you gotta hang up the cleats and realize there’s more to life and you can’t play forever, especially at corner. I feel like they’re bringing batch of dudes every year that are bigger dudes, stronger dudes. Not saying I couldn’t keep up, but I had to figure out what else I wanted in life. I want to have a family and have kids, but it’s super hard to do that when you’re on the road all the time. When I’m in football, I’m in football. I’m not focused on anything else. It’s something that can be taken away as fast as it was given to you.”

Wallace was one of several Tucson natives to play in the NFL in recent years, along with running back Bijan Robinson, safety Lathan Ransom, offensive lineman Jordan Morgan, linebackers Blake Martinez and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, among others.

Before he became an NFL player and standout at Alabama, Wallace was an under-recruited prospect from Tucson High. Even though he played just minutes — maybe seconds depending on the flow of lights on Sixth Street — up the road from then-Arizona Stadium, the hometown school didn’t recruit him — or even offer a walk-on spot.

Using his dad’s GI Bill, Wallace went to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa for school. Wallace played intramural football at Alabama and was consistently among the top performers. That’s when he was encouraged to play football for the Crimson Tide, a perennial powerhouse at the height of the Nick Saban era.

Wallace played at Alabama from 2014-17 and helped the Crimson Tide win two national championships. At Alabama, he was teammates with quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, running back Derrick Henry, wide receivers Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley and DeVonta Smith and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, among others.

Wallace initially started as a scout-team player, but ascended on the depth chart, earned a scholarship in 2016 and became a starter in 2017.

“It was a blessing to be in the same room with these guys and learn from them, but also develop myself as a player and be coached by Coach Saban, who is without a doubt the greatest college football coach of all time,” Wallace said. “Having that opportunity to be there, of course I got better. When you’re around greatness, you become great. At that point, it’s about opportunity. I was presented with an opportunity and ran with it.”

When Wallace turned pro, he was expected to hear his name called no later than the third round of the NFL Draft. Seven rounds went by, and Wallace wasn’t selected. He signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent.

“I don’t want to say it’s for the best, but there’s a reason it happened,” Wallace said. “To go undrafted, it definitely hurt, but it was back to the drawing board to figure out not only how to make the team, but be a starter.”

Wallace was waived leading up to his rookie season, but he signed with Buffalo’s practice squad. Wallace spent the year studying Buffalo’s zone defense and learning from Buffalo defensive backs in Tre’Davious White, Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.

“Getting thrown into that defense was the best thing to happen to me,” Wallace said. “I figured out different ways to play corner and new ways to be successful. I wouldn’t change how I did it.”

About halfway through Wallace’s rookie season, Bills head coach Sean McDermott stopped Wallace and asked him, “‘Hey, how come you think we haven’t moved you up yet?’ ‘I don’t know yet, coach.’ ‘It’s because you haven’t made any plays on the practice squad. I want to see you make plays,’” Wallace recalled.

“The next practice, I had an interception on the first play of practice,” he added. “Two plays later, I had another practice and looked at him like, ‘What’s up?’ I started every game in Buffalo after that. That was a key moment for me. It showed the trust McDermott had in me moving forward. If a head coach is asking me why I didn’t move up, then he’s trying to give me an opportunity. You’re either ready for the moment or you’re not.”

Wallace became a mainstay in Buffalo’s defense for four seasons before signing a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers and then finishing his career with the Broncos and Jaguars. Wallace recorded 334 tackles, 12 interceptions and 56 pass breakups as an NFL player. Whenever Wallace played on Sunday Night Football on NBC, his player intro would have his name followed by a Tucson High shoutout. Players sometimes say their middle school or elementary school, but most of the time it’s just the college they attended. Representing Tucson High was essential to Wallace.

“I wanted to show anyone from Tucson that’s watching,” Wallace said. “I also wanted younger kids from Tucson to see what level they can get to. Also, I want to show that I never forgot where I came from. It was a great reminder that I’m representing something more than myself. How I conduct myself off the field and represent Tucson and my family, I definitely wanted to throw that out there.”

During the offseasons, Wallace returned to Tucson to host youth football camps — camps connected to the Levi Wallace Foundation. The Levi Wallace Foundation also hosts an annual charity golf tournament.

“That’s why God gave me an opportunity to play football, to impact people,” Wallace said. “That’s all that matters.”

Wallace loved football. It consumed his life for two-plus decades. But a hamstring injury during training camp with the Jaguars was one of many signs for Wallace to step away from his playing career.

“My heart wasn’t in recovery as fast as it usually is, and I wasn’t trying to push myself to get back on the field as fast as possible,” Wallace said. “That was my body saying, ‘Hey, we can’t bounce back and you’re no spring chicken anymore.’ The love for recovery wasn’t there anymore. I had an honest conversation with myself, my closest friends, my mom and figured out the next steps.”

Added Wallace: “You want to leave on your own terms. I had opportunities to go work out and try out for other teams, but I made up in my mind that this was a good point to stop. I still have my health, so let’s move on to the next chapter in life.”

Wallace has no qualms with his football career. He went from having no scholarships to winning national championships, and then went from undrafted to having a seven-year NFL career, when the average NFL career lasts three to four years.

For Wallace, the NFL was always a part of the plan, even when he was a youngster playing for the Tucson High Badgers at Gridley Field.

“That was always the goal,” Wallace said. “I might’ve not said it out loud, but I think if I didn’t have those thoughts, I wouldn’t have made it this far. My path was different than everybody else’s between being a walk-on and being undrafted. As soon as you admit you can’t do something, it becomes a reality.

“I always thought I’d be in the NFL. That was always my mindset. Nobody could stop me. Only I could stop me.”