Podcast: Inside Seneca Wallace's NFL odyssey
The longtime quarterback has countless stories to share, from Jim Harbaugh using him as a pawn in San Francisco to the demanding Mike Holmgren to all things Aaron Rodgers.
In pro football, this will forever be true: Backup quarterbacks have the best stories.
They’re around the people who decide wins and losses most. They’re in the QB room. They’re hanging out with the face of the franchise most off the field.
Their memories tend to be extraordinary, too.
So this week on the Go Long Podcast, we spend time with one such backup: Seneca Wallace.
Two decades ago, Wallace helped put Iowa State football on the map — you may remember “The Run” — before being selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He served as Matt Hasselbeck’s backup from 2003 through 2009, and then bounced around the league with the Browns, Saints, 49ers and Packers.
As you may recall, Wallace was thrown into action when Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone in 2013. He became the first African-American quarterback to ever to start a game for the Packers. Then, Wallace was shelved himself.
I think you’ll enjoy this hourlong conversation. Wallace gets into everything:
How people tried to push him toward wide receiver, from high school to college to the pros. He stuck with quarterback.
The ultra-demanding Mike Holmgren. His head coach in Seattle sure asked a lot out of his quarterbacks during the week.
What could’ve been. Teams weren’t as open to warping their playbooks for mobile quarterbacks in the early 2000s.
His terrible experience with Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco. Wallace believed he was a pawn for the 49ers head coach in training camp.
How Wallace pushed Matt Hasselbeck and challenged him to play through pain.
He’s a Sacramento Kings fan so Wallaces knows a little something about egregious officiating, and Super Bowl XL vs. Pittsburgh? He still cannot believe the calls that went against Seattle that night in Detroit.
What is Aaron Rodgers like day to day? Unbelievably talented but, also, strange to say the least.
Life today. From high school coaching to raising three kids, Wallace is a busy man.
You can get the Go Long Podcast anywhere you consume your pods. A few links are right here:
Absolutely loved this. Fascinating to hear what goes on behind the scenes in the NFL.