PHILADELPHIA _ Every couple weeks, K'Von Wallace receives a book in the mail.
The Eagles' rookie defensive back isn't an avid reader, but that doesn't stop his old high school football coach, Loren Johnson, from occasionally sending him literature.
Johnson, whom Wallace affectionately calls "Pops," is the most prominent father figure in the 23-year-old's life. He knows Wallace is busy, but he wants to make sure he "keeps his head on straight."
One of Johnson's most recent deliveries was a success. Wallace is frenetically catching up on the Eagles' defensive schemes and adjusting to life in the NFL. But last month he tore through "The Energy Bus," a book he likely would describe as a page-turner.
"He knows I don't like reading that much, but 'The Energy Bus' I was interested in," Wallace said. "It's an amazing book. It literally changes your whole perspective on whatever you were facing in life. Whether you're a positive person or a negative person, there's always room for improvement. That book teaches you, if you're a positive person, be more. If you're a negative person, how can you change to be a more positive person?"
From an observer's perspective, it's hard to imagine Wallace could improve his positivity.
The Clemson grad grew up in a government-housing facility in Highland Springs, Va., in a single-parent home. His father was in prison for part of his childhood and absent for another. He's all too familiar with the traditions that form because of financial struggle, such as stocking up on candles when the power bill was too expensive. When the water bill was one day past due, they'd put buckets filled to the brim in the oven to have hot water to bathe.
Wallace watched his mom, Roxanne, work two jobs and go through school while raising him and his two sisters.
"I don't want to say it was the norm, but it was something that you normalized," Wallace said. "It's something that was a part of family. It was a part of my family and a part of the culture I was around. ... Just doing what it takes to survive. We always had that survival (instinct). I grew up on it, so it was never like 'Man, this is crazy.' It was the norm for us.
"My mom did the best she could to not have that become the norm for us. She did a great job. She was raising three kids on her own, going to school, and working two jobs. Her going through that instilled in me that I had to work hard. It put a little bit of pressure on me to be successful. It was a good pressure, not a bad pressure."
None of that struggle defines Wallace. He wouldn't let it.
