Q&A with Auburn Tight End Cooper Wallace
Q: When did you start riding dirt bikes?
A: “I think I got my first one in my freshman year of high school. We had club day at our high school, and once every semester we would have club day where you could do sewing, off-road, basketball or some other club. We had a four-wheeler at my house, so I decided to do the off-road club. I had just ridden the four-wheeler around our house and in fields. I’d never really been riding where we went, and everybody else had motorcycles. There were about six or seven of us and we went to this big park and we started riding out in the woods and I thought it was amazing. The four-wheeler just didn’t suit me well just because I couldn’t do as much as the guys on the motorcycle. I went home and asked my dad for one, thinking for sure I’d never get one. Then the next day, a man showed up at my dad’s office with a motorcycle on the back of his truck and asked if he was interested in buying it. My dad went ahead and bought it, so it’s almost a freak accident that I even got one. I’ve never ridden too much just because if I got hurt that would be stupid because I don’t want to spend my life riding dirt bikes. But riding them is something I’ll love to do once football is over.”
Q: What’s your first Auburn memory?
A: “The Georgia or LSU game when I was a senior in high school, it was in Auburn and I came on a recruiting visit. Tim Carter ran a kickoff back and everybody went psycho. I leaned over to my mom after the game and told her that I think I’m getting lucky just by getting offered here, so this for sure is where I want to go.”
Q: Why did you play soccer before football?
A: “I started out when I was little playing baseball and soccer. They bumped up the fee to play both so my mom told me to choose one. Both of my brothers played baseball, so I decided to play soccer. It ended up being something that I really grew to love and have a passion for. It’s a lot different than other sports. A lot of people here in the United States don’t really understand it, so it kind of has a negative vibe sometimes, especially around football people. I’ve just been playing it since I was little and I never wanted to stop, and it’s just something that I love.
Q: What state have you never visited but would like to?
A: “New York because some of my best buddies have visited up there and said they loved it. I have some friends who live up there now, and I’ve heard that it’s almost like a different country up there. Whenever I see it on TV, it’s always so massive looking, with the skyscrapers. I’m so used to Alabama and Tennessee, so I think going there would be kind of a rude awakening.”
Q: What was the hardest part of moving from Nashville to Auburn?
A: “Even though Nashville’s not such a big city, Auburn’s a lot smaller than Nashville. I think just the fact that sometimes I thought Nashville was too small for me, and Auburn, I know for sure is too small for me. Auburn’s definitely been a good place for the five years I’ve been here, but I’m going to need something a little bit bigger.
Q: Who do you call for advice?
A: “Either one of my brothers. I have two older brothers. One of them lives in Nashville, and there are different things I call them about. It depends on what I need advice on.”
Q: You’re the youngest of three boys, are you spoiled?
A: “The middle one is spoiled, I’m not.”
