Wallace as good as Vick?

KIRKLAND – During a storied career at Florida State University, Michael Boulware saw his share of star athletes.

Only one of them nearly knocked off the Seminoles single-handedly.

Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace, despite a so-so supporting cast, took Boulware’s fourth-ranked Florida State team down to the wire by rallying his team from a 24-0 deficit with 313 passing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 2002 season opener.

Wallace saved his most impressive run of that game for his final scramble, when he avoided a heavy pass rush and rambled 20 yards before getting stopped inches short of the goal line in a 38-31 loss to the heavily favored Seminoles.

Boulware never forgot the performance of the under-sized quarterback from the non-football school.

“Seneca was a very explosive quarterback who was a triple threat,” Boulware said of his future Seattle Seahawks teammate. “I think he’s just as good as (Atlanta quarterback) Michael Vick.”

While it remains to be seen what kind of an NFL quarterback Wallace will be – he’ll make his first start this Sunday when the Seahawks face the Kansas City Chiefs – he left quite an impression on nearly everyone he faced in his last gig as a full-time starter.

“He was, in one word, dangerous,” said Seahawks kicker Josh Brown, whose Nebraska team faced Iowa State in both of Wallace’s two seasons there.

“He did everything. He was like a running back playing quarterback,” added Seahawks defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, whose Texas A&M team survived a serious scare from Wallace and the Cyclones in 2001. “We tried to spy guys on him, we tried to blitz. But he just kept making plays.”

Wallace still has the same athletic ability he did in college, but he’s come a long way since the days when he was creating weekly SportsCenter highlights at Iowa State.

When he makes his first NFL start in place of injured quarterback Matt Hasselbeck this Sunday, fans will be seeing a more polished quarterback than the scrambler who set the college football world abuzz four years ago.

“It’s been a long transition,” said Boulware, a safety who has had to make a transition of his own after playing linebacker at FSU. “He’s been patient and worked really hard. Slowly but surely, he’s gotten better and better each week.”

It hasn’t been an easy evolution. After getting pigeon-holed as an “athletic” quarterback who would be better served to play receiver in the NFL, Wallace was impressive enough for Seahawks coaches and scouts to give him a shot as a signal-caller. His footwork and passing ability were apparent early on, yet Wallace was slow to pick up the West Coast system.

The Seahawks discovered that Wallace had what coach Mike Holmgren referred to as a “learning disability,” and sent him to a class geared toward alternative ways of learning.

Wallace bristles at the description of his learning capacity and was defensive when asked about the program on Monday.

“It wasn’t a learning center,” he said. “Everybody always makes it sound like I’m (unintelligent) or something like that. It was just a class that helped me study, helped me prepare. It’s something that a lot of people do; there were a lot of grownups there.”

The class appears to have worked wonders. Wallace picked up the offense and won the backup quarterback job during the 2005 training camp.

“It probably was a little embarrassing (for Wallace),” Holmgren said of the class, “… but he did this, and he worked hard to improve his skills and it’s helped him. I applaud him for that.”

Wallace has continued to mature in the Seahawks’ system, but he hasn’t completely shed his label as an athlete.

During his rookie year, he out-jumped several teammates in an impromptu leaping contest inside the Seahawks’ locker room. The 5-foot-11 Wallace caused a roomful of gasps by touching a water pipe that hovers at least 12 feet above the ground.

He’s also shown Vick-like ability while working the Seahawks’ scout team at practices and proved to be a valuable stand-in while filling the Atlanta quarterback’s role in practices leading up to a game with the Falcons last year.

“And I’ve heard he’s an unbelievable basketball player,” middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “When I was in high school and my early years in college, he had to be in the top 10 (SportsCenter) plays a couple of times. He was a household name in college.”

Wallace’s days as a college superstar are behind him, and now he’s trying to make a name for himself in the NFL.

“It’s an exciting time for him,” Tatupu said. “Obviously it hurts to lose Matt, who’s our leader, but we have the confidence in Seneca.

“I’ll be interested to see what he can do with a full week of preparation.”

Wallace is taking it all in stride.

“I am not the person that is going to get nervous or uptight about anything,” he said. “It is a sport. We’ve all been playing all our lives; you just go out and play and have fun.”