'He loves his Auburn' - Steve Wallace on former teammate, Hall of Famer Kevin Greene

'He loves his Auburn' - Steve Wallace on former teammate, Hall of Famer Kevin Greene'He loves his Auburn' - Steve Wallace on former teammate, Hall of Famer Kevin Greene

Aug. 24, 2016

By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - Steve Wallace had no idea what was coming.

He had gone to Canton, Ohio, to support his former Auburn teammate, Kevin Greene, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame's enshrinement ceremony.

Greene, after thanking his family and his high school teammates and coaches, started talking about his time at Auburn.

"At the Hall of Fame, Kevin called my name, and he was starting to tell a story." Wallace recalls. "I thought it was going to be a story where he kicked my butt. But, no, it was going in the other direction."

Here's what Greene said:

"Then I go on to Auburn. And I get a chance to practice against a fellow by the name of Steve Wallace. Steve Wallace was a beast at offensive tackle. He'd go one to play 12 years in the National Football League. Pro Bowl. Three-time All-Pro. He won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers protecting Joe Montana and Steve Young.

And this man, in practice, he beat me down. No doubt, he did. And I felt the wrath of my position coach, Joe Whitt. That's okay. I learned."

Wallace, seated nearby with fellow former Tiger teammates, was stunned.

"I was just being a proud Auburn guy. He had many days of kicking my butt, after the first few days at Auburn, to in the League in San Francisco," Wallace says. "And he was saying that. And I was thinking, `I can't believe he's saying that.' But I felt proud, as a former teammate, competing with him during the tough days when we changed Auburn's tradition."

Wallace agrees with Greene's assessment of their initial encounters in practices.

"He and I went after it in the first few days out there," Wallace says. "And he didn't fare so well."

But, as Greene said in Canton, those one-sided early battles, and a pep talk from assistant coach Joe Whitt, were motivators.

"And I can remember Coach Whitt pulling him to the side. And Kevin said Coach Whitt told him, `Son, that's not good enough to win here at Auburn,'" Wallace says.

Kevin Greene credits Steve Wallace with helping him become a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

"And from that point on, Kevin said he had to make a change. So, he started working harder every day on the Plains. The next thing I knew, a year later, he was getting after it. He was intimidating a lot of guys. And was going toe to toe. He became a player to compete with."

One year after walking on, Kevin Greene led the SEC in sacks, in 1984." style="width:100%; height:auto;" class="imported_image" legacy-link="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/m-footbl/auto_a_storywide/12050402.jpeg"> One year after walking on, Kevin Greene led the SEC in sacks, in 1984.

Greene led the SEC in sacks as a senior in 1984 before playing 15 seasons in the NFL, where his 160 sacks rank third all-time.

"Kevin played with such a level of intensity. And that was the only way he knew how to play," Wallace says. "And it went on from the Auburn days. On into the pros. And still now, he carries that intensity."

To the point, Wallace says, that it affects their gameday routines when they return to their alma mater.

"When he's on the Plains at Auburn, I can't watch a game with that guy for the simple fact that I want to relax," Wallace says with a smile. "And he's often like, `Big Steve, don't you have one more play?' Nah. I don't have any more plays here at Auburn. Let those young guys take care of that. And he's still the same way today that he was at Auburn. He wants to play. He loves his Auburn. He's always pulling for the guys every single play. I'm like, `Let me relax and enjoy this game.' In the early part of the day on the Plains, on gameday, I can visit with him. But, during the game, I can't watch a game with him. We kind of have to go our separate ways."

Steve Wallace says Kevin Greene is still intense about Auburn football, especially on gameday.

At Super Bowl 50, one day after Greene was voted into the Hall of Fame, he sought out Wallace on the sideline before the game in Santa Clara, California.

"A guy tapped me on my shoulder and said, `War Eagle.' War Eagle? Who's this? All the way out here? I turn around. It was Kevin Greene. He had left all of the new inductees of the Hall of Fame. He had left Tom Brady, Joe Montana. All of these guys who were previous Super Bowl MVPs. They were in a group. He was like, `Forget them. That's my Auburn guy over there.' So, he came over there. Hugged me from behind. He said, `Big Steve. Big Steve. Come over here. I want to share a story with you,'" Wallace says.

Greene then recounted the same story he would share in Canton six months later.

Steve Wallace and Kevin Greene talked about their Auburn days on the field at Super Bowl 50.

"`Do you remember back in the days when we first went after it?' He says, `Well, when we were getting after it, man, I just want to tell you this, man, you kicked my butt. Then Coach Whitt pulled me to the side and said, `Kevin, that's not good enough. We can't win here at Auburn with that.'"

"And so I'm thinking, here we are, 2,500 miles away from Auburn University. A guy taps me on the shoulder, and says, `War Eagle.' And we're in the Super Bowl end zone, and he's telling me about a play about when I got the best of him and Coach Whitt told him that that's not good enough for Auburn. And I just said, `Man, dang.' And so we embraced each other. And he said, `Man, I had to make a change. And look where that change got me.' It got him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"And as he walked away, my friends were like, `Dude, what's wrong with you?' I said, `Man, I've got to get this dirt out of my eyes.' They were like, `No, he said something. What did he say?' I said, `He gave me some memories about our tough days at Auburn, and what it was all about. And as he was leaving, he said, `Brother, War Eagle.' And I thought, `That's what it's all about.'"

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer