Domination of IM flag football inspired Steelers CB Levi Wallace to walk on at Alabama

The University of Alabama is known for having what is considered the best college football program in the country. And as a true freshman, new Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Levi Wallace dominated while playing on that campus.

“It freaking felt like I was Lamar Jackson before Lamar Jackson,” Wallace said during a Wednesday appearance on the Jim Rome Show, referencing the 2016 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and referring to his own play during the fall of 2014.

But Wallace wasn’t dominating in against Auburn or LSU. And his freshman exploits weren’t broadcast on CBS or ESPN.

“I was running around against a bunch of regular college students,” Wallace told Rome. “Frat guys who made up teams and stuff like that. And I was ballin’. I was a quarterback, I was letting it fly. And I was running circles around people.”

Wallace is entering his fifth NFL season, and he’s been a starter throughout his pro career. But when he enrolled at Alabama, it wasn’t because he was a five-star recruit that chose the Crimson Tide over other national powerhouses.

It was to be just a regular college student. And like many regular college students, he was enticed to play intramural sports. In Wallace’s case, that meant football — flag football.

“Honestly, it was just messing around,” Wallace said. “A bunch of friends, we were kind of bored. ‘Levi, you should come play football with us.’

“‘OK, cool, whatever. I don’t care.’ And I enjoyed it, man.”

And despite Wallace’s “Lamar Jackson-esque” exploits and status as a future second-team all-SEC defensive back, he couldn’t even lead his IM team to a league title.

“We lost in the championship game,” Wallace said. “I don’t know; (the opposing team) must have watched film on me or something. I was getting blitzed all day. It was cold, and I’d never played in the cold before, being from Arizona, and it was cold that day. They had us.

“But it was a lot of fun. A lot of that story is it kind of made me miss football again, and it was one of the reasons why I walked on.”

Wallace earned a scholarship in time for the 2016 season, when he contributed in 11 games during Alabama’s run to the national championship game. The next season, he became a starter and got the all-conference recognition en route to a Crimson Tide national title.

A national champion who couldn’t win an intramural championship, Wallace made the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent the following year and had two interceptions each of the next three seasons before becoming a free agent this month and signing a two-year, $8 million deal with the Steelers. He is expected to start at outside cornerback this season.

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