Here at Cat Scratch Reader we have counted down the final 100 days leading up to the Carolina Panthers season opener by for at least the past ten years. We’ve always done this by highlighting the current player on the roster whose jersey number matches the day on the countdown. This year, we decided to change that up a bit by counting down our own list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time. This does not correspond to jersey number, does not need to be somebody who wore a jersey, and will in no way be controversial.
#92. Al Wallace
The Carolina Panthers had one of the best defensive lines in the NFL in the early 2000s. The group had elite talent at the top, but also had the depth to keep the pressure on opponents even when the stars were catching their breaths. Al Wallace was part of that depth, and his play alongside Mike Rucker and Julius Peppers was paramount to a couple of playoff runs.
Wallace was a two-way star in high school and parts of college, playing outside linebacker and wide receiver/tight end. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent out of college, but he couldn’t latch on there. Finally, in his third NFL season, he had a breakout of sorts with six sacks for the Eagles. Unfortunately, he severely injured his ankle right before the following season and ended up not playing another NFL game for the next three seasons. He signed with the Dolphins in 2002, but they traded him to the Panthers later that same offseason in a trade that doesn’t make any sense to me. After all that time away from football, Wallace managed to play in 80 consecutive games for the Panthers over the next five seasons.
Wallace came off the bench the vast maojrity of the time with Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker holding it down in front of him. That trio of defensive ends along with an interior featuring Kris Jenkins and Brentson Buckner defined an entire era of Panthers football. He amassed 17 regular season sacks during his time in Carolina and added another 1.5 sacks during the team’s Super Bowl run in 2003.
He was released after the 2006 as a salary cap casualty. He signed with the Bills, but the injury bug bit him again there. He ended up on injured reserve before the season and never played another snap in the NFL. Apparently he could only stay healthy in Carolina.
While Wallace’s total counting stats are somewhat unremarkable, his place on arguably the most iconic single unit in the history of the Panthers organization makes him a worthy entry on the list of the team’s top 100 players.
