In the early hours of Sept. 1, Lawrence Wade and his friend Terrance Bellman were getting some snacks at the Texaco gas station on Broad and Diamond streets.
As they began their trek back, they noticed a distressed friend pumping gas and not paying attention to her wallet, which lay on the roof of her car. Two lurkers stood by.
Thinking nothing of it, they continued on until a Texaco employee saw one of the men snatch her wallet and take off down Broad Street.
Realizing what had just happened, the friend asked Wade to try to get the wallet back.
Soon campus police were on the scene as Wade tracked down the culprit and demanded the wallet back.
The culprit didn’t have the wallet, but admitted that he had tossed it behind a fence.
Wade retrieved it as campus police apprehended the suspects.
“I’m not going to say it was much of a break up, but it was a friend of ours that we knew,” said Wade, a defensive back on the football team.
“She was kind of upset about something already and she was real grateful about it. Luckily, it wasn’t nothing real bad.”
For Wade, he was just looking out for a friend.
Chasing people down has become second nature to the fourth-year junior, who initially came to Temple as a running back before switching to defense this year.
Attending high school in the Washington D.C. area, Wade rushed for over 5,700 yards and seemed destined to follow in his cousin Paul Palmer’s footsteps.
Palmer happens to be Temple’s all-time leading rusher.
Wade spent the past two seasons backing up Tanardo Sharps, the school’s second all-time leading rusher.
However, coach Bobby Wallace wanted to utilize Wade’s speed and athleticism on the defensive side of the ball.
At the beginning of spring practice last year, Wade was offered a chance to play safety for the Owls.
By the time practice sessions concluded, he had earned a starting position in the secondary.
“We all felt like he was too good an athlete to wait out at running back,” outside linebackers coach Spencer Prescott said. “Really, he’s progressed more quickly than I expected him to.”
According to Prescott, the Owls haven’t seen many players with Wade’s combination of size and speed.
At six feet and 200 pounds, Wade has been used in a variety of ways in defensive coordinator Raymond Monica’s 4-2-5 scheme.
Prescott sees Wade’s position as a combination of an outside linebacker and safety.
“On defense, at this position, you get to play all different positions,” Prescott said. “If you play it hard and right, you can make it happen.”
So far Wade appears to be thriving at his position.
In addition to recording 11 tackles in the first two games, he also notched an interception and a sack.
Wade shares kick-returning duties and is currently third in the Big East Conference with 27.7 yards per return.
Wade said he attributes his smooth transition from offense to defense to his aggressive nature on the field and willingness to play at any opportunity.
“At first I just wanted to help the team and see how everything turned out, and they said if I didn’t like it I could go back to running back,” Wade said. “But I liked it, so I wanted to stay.”
Jason S. Haslam can be reached at jasonhaslam@yahoo.com
Jason S. Haslam can be reached at jasonhaslam@yahoo.com
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