“Of course, he 4.4,” safety Lathan Ransom responded without hesitation, referring to Wallace’s 40-yard dash time. At the Combine, Wallace’s ran a 4.51, but that’s neither here nor there. His background gave him the speed and know-all to make the play.
“Yeah, he played receiver in high school so he better have PBU skills,” exclaimed nickel Chau Smith-Wade.
In fact, Wallace played receiver, running back, quarterback (at times), linebacker, and special teams returner.
“Oh, he’s like that, for sure,” bragged safety Tre’von Moehrig of Wallace. “I mean, I watched these guys since I got out here, so I see their ability and yeah, he’s like that. He’s special.”
Still, in the moment, Wallace wasn’t sure he’d be able to make up the distance in time.
“Ahhhhh,” he grimaced, asked if he knew he had that closing speed. “I was praying to God, ‘Just run, just run!’ I didn’t even look back, I was like run, that’s all I was thinking, just run.”
In the end, he ran fast enough, sticking his hand in to save what looked to be a wide open touchdown, ensuring Horn made the right decision to trust the second-year linebacker to stay on the play. The very next play, Horn intercepted a ball in the end zone—a one handed highlight takeaway—to keep the Jets off the scoreboard in a close game.