The bio for Cleveland Wallace III in the San Jose State media guide uses just seven words to explain the move that brought him to the Spartans: “A transfer from the University of Washington.’’
At the NFL combine this week, though, the former Husky — he spent two seasons at UW, playing in nine games as a redshirt freshman in 2013 — explained that there was a lot more to the story than he was able to tell anyone at the time.
“The reason why I transferred was my oldest brother was murdered and then my grandma was in the hospital at the same time and then my mom got hurt, so she wasn’t working, ’’ said Wallace, a member of UW’s 2012 recruiting class out of Oak Grove High in San Jose, Calif.