From mud bogging to hog hunting, Panthers rookie LB owns his tough guy swagger

Carolina Panthers rookie Trevin Wallace turned 21 in February, but he’s already lived quite the life as he gets ready to begin his NFL journey.

The father of two baby girls — both under 2 years old — is a hog-hunting, long-jumping, mud-bogging linebacker who says he plays with the attitude of “I’m going to hurt you every play” when he’s on the field.

The Jesup, Ga., native says he’s from the “dirty, dirty country,” and he embraces the “dawg” mentality that Panthers GM Dan Morgan has tried to cultivate on his first-year Carolina roster.

“I got a little swag to my game,” Wallace said Friday, minutes after being selected with the 72nd overall pick in the third round of this past weekend’s NFL Draft. “I feel like with my game, like I said, swag is like — I’m determined to get to the ball carrier, no matter what it is. If the play’s going for like 12 seconds, I’m still determined to get to the ball carrier. I’m real determined as well, too.”

Flippin’ burgers and running backs

Wallace attributes the development of his determination and work ethic to his time working for his mother at McDonald’s when he was 16 years old.

Wallace’s mother, Adrian, was a general manger at the local fast-food franchise, and she hired her son to teach him the responsibility of earning a living.

“Just getting up and going, having that more like, every day, I’m putting money in my pocket just to get where I’m going because my family didn’t grow up on the wealthy side,” Wallace said. “So just trying to help that out.”

Wallace showed some versatility at McDonald’s long before he became a standout at the University of Kentucky.

The then-teenaged Wallace worked as a cashier and handled the drive-thru. He also had grill responsibilities, as he made Big Macs and Double Quarter Pounders, while balancing out a successful high school football career.

“It’d be days where like high school games, and we get over about 11:00 (p.m.),” Wallace recalled. “She’s like, ‘All right, come to work at 5 in the morning.’ I’m like, ‘Mom, I just got done with a game.’ And she’s always telling me like, ‘Hey, the world isn’t going to slow down on you. So, you better get some money in your pocket while you can.’ So I was like, ‘OK.’

“So just doing that every time and I used to be tired of it, but hey, when you were 16 years old and got your own money, you can buy what you want. Hey, that’s a win-win to me.”

‘Athletic freak’

Along with balancing his fast-food job and a promising football career, Wallace also participated in track and field. He was a stellar long-jumper who put up impressive numbers that showed off his trademark athleticism.

“So, I jumped 23.4 and 1/8ths,” Wallace said. “I was like 225 (pounds). To be that big and jump that was kind of insane. A lot of people didn’t believe I jumped that when I jumped it. They kept looking at me and I was like, ‘Dang, I jumped that for real.’ So yeah, it’s true.”

Wallace hung up his fast-food headset and spatula in 12th grade and joined the Kentucky Wildcats football program in 2021.

The 6-foot-1, 237-pound linebacker played three seasons of college ball, producing 166 tackles (18 for loss), 10 sacks, three interceptions and two forced fumbles. His speed — he ran a 4.51-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in Feburary — and violent tackling ability became his calling cards.

“Athletic freak,” Morgan said about Wallace. “A guy that can run sideline to sideline — strike ball carriers. I think his ceiling is really high.”

Draft classmates like Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper, Michigan’s Junior Colson and NC State’s Payton Wilson received more offseason hype than Wallace, but his raw athleticism and football character — along with his upside — appealed to Morgan, a former Pro Bowl linebacker, during the lead up to the draft.

Morgan was bullish enough about Wallace to make him the team’s final pick of Day 2.

Said Morgan: “I think he’s a guy that’s going to develop, keep developing, and turn into a good linebacker for us.”

Finding his place in Carolina

The Panthers entered the draft in need of inside linebacker depth. They selected Wallace with a premium pick and then double-dipped in the seventh round with the selection of Michigan’s Michael Barrett.

The need for depth was apparent, but so was the logic in finding a succession plan for the team’s aging starters.

Shaq Thompson and Josey Jewell, who are set to lead the group, will both be 30 by the end of the calendar year. Jewell just signed a three-year contract, but Thompson’s deal is set to expire next March.

While Morgan brushed off the notion that Wallace — who models his game after San Francisco 49ers All-Pro Fred Warner — is earmarked to be Thompson’s eventual replacement, it’s pretty evident that the implied outcome would be the best-case scenario for the franchise.

“Shaq’s played at a high level for a long time,” Morgan said. “Obviously, we think a lot of Shaq. Think a lot of Josey. We’re really excited about those guys. I just want Trevin to come in here — and I think (head coach Dave Canales) would say the same thing — come in here and learn and compete and earn the respect of these veterans out there.

“I think that’s the main thing coming in as a rookie. Kind of just growing. Get behind the right veteran leadership, and just kind of find his way. We have some really good vets in this locker room.”

Wallace has yet to meet Thompson, who has been a longtime defensive captain for the franchise.

Thompson is coming off a major leg injury that cost him 15 games last season. And at the minimum, Wallace will be counted on as insurance for the aging but effective veteran.

But Wallace — who oozes confidence — isn’t coming to Charlotte just to sit back and relax. He wants to compete.

“I can say I have a chip on my shoulder and as well, I have a family of my own,” Wallace said. “I got two beautiful girls. So, you know, just coming in 20 years old with that is a lot. You know, you have two mouths to feed.

“You come home and that’s who you feed so that’s my motivation. Every time I come home, I look at them like this is what I’m doing this for, these are my baby girls, this is who I’m providing for. That’s my motivation right there.”

Going hunting . . .

Wallace isn’t all about football though. He’s also got some pretty wild hobbies.

Coming for the south, Wallace’s interests often bring him outdoors on hot days. He isn’t afraid to get dirty, either.

“I’ve been hog hunting,” Wallace said. “I go hog hunting a lot, mud bogging. Sometimes what we would do like if it rains, we go just you know have fun, play in the mud, no rolling around in it.”

And while his new bosses would probably prefer he hunts running backs and slot receivers during his weekends in Charlotte, the Panthers’ brass appears to be ready to embrace Wallace’s eclectic outlook on life and the game.

“We had him in here on a 30 visit,” Morgan said. “Really impressive young man, just the way he carries himself. Just kind of talking to us in the room, you kind of fell in love with the kid in there.

“Those 30 visits, I do think they mean a lot. That’s just a case right there. We just drafted him in the third round, and we’re really excited about him.”