From Knoxville To Denver,

Introduction:
He had to nerve to get into Manning's and Little's faces at halftime....his first step out of their spotlight and into one of his own.

Peyton Manning had to have known then.

His lackluster performance in the first half of the 1997 Southeastern Conference Championship game ignited something in Junior Linebacker Al Wilson. It's bad enough that the only two players that were being talked about were Manning and All American Linebacker Leonard Little, but having them not play up to a level suitable for him, was just too much for Wilson.

Trailing after 2 quarters, 20-10, Wilson erupted into a halftime tirade against his teammates, including an intended call out of Manning and Little. Whatever he said during his speech, worked. Peyton Manning rallied the offense to 20 second half points and Little lead the defensive charge in holding the Auburn offense to only 13 yards rushing for a final score of 30-29 and Manning's only collegiate championship.

What Wilson did in reality was sew the seeds of the 1998 (mythical) National Championship season. "NO STARS ON THIS TEAM" was the beginning mantra started by Wilson. "Team of Destiny" became the end result.

Yesterday, Al Wilson announced his retirement from the NFL. A neck injury towards the end of the 2006 season caused him to miss the 2007 season. He had been released by the team that drafted him as the 31st pick overall in 1999, the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, more of a salary cap maneuver than a result of his injury (Wilson was scheduled to received a $3.5 million option bonus that year).

With that announcement, I will never see ‘Big Al" in another football uniform.

The man who single handedly, picked his Tennessee team up and carried them to a recognized, undisputed national championship, mostly through refusal to accept anything less than 100% from his teammates and daring them through intimidation to not give their all for Tennessee, leading by example by playing most of the 1998 season with shoulder problems. An Injury so painful, that after he recovered and returned a blocked field goal attempt by Alabama, he couldn't even celebrate with his teammates, having to push them away, his separated shoulder dangling at his side.

An all around athlete in his high school days in Jackson, Tennessee, the Vols had to dodge a lot of bullets from our scourge to the south, the University of Alabama. Wilson grew up boxing, running on the track team and playing football. He wanted to become a boxer, but his mother wanted him to get a college degree and no colleges offered boxing scholarships. As a Fullback, he was offered to play at Bama and run track, which is what he wanted to do. But a last second sales pitch by Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer convinced Wilson to sign with his beloved Tennessee.

He came to Tennessee and was a starting linebacker by the time he played his 7th game there. He was a solid field player, not prone to say much. That is, until halftime of that SEC championship game in his junior year.

The Vols went on to get trounced by the Nebraksa Cornhuskers in the 1998 Orange Bowl. After the season ended, the first thing the players did was hit the weight room. It is there where Wilson set the tone, riding his teammates, pushing them to be stronger and faster. Rumor has it that he showed up one session wearing a Nebraska t-shirt….a motivational tool used to remind them of the previous game played. They had learned from Nebraska, just what a physical team was.

The second sign that Al Wilson was leading the way was in the fall practice of 1998. He became only the second player ever to break a blocking sled. We know this to be true because the company who made the sled, said they only had one warranty sled that needed to be replaced before him.

After the opening last minute win at Syracuse, the Vols had a "tune up" game with Houston, to set the table for the Florida game. As expected, the Vols easily feasted on the Cougars….but not without a price. Wilson's shoulder was separated in the 3rd quarter and instead of having surgery to repair it, he opted instead to play through it.

Extensive rehab was performed on Wilson after the game and in the days that followed. Luckily for Tennessee, they had an off week, as per the usual before the UF game. Whatever the trainers did, they need to patent it. In that game, Florida and Steve Spurrier had no answer for Al Wilson. I am convinced to this day that Gator QB Doug Johnson has nightmares when he hears Wilson's name.



Yes, he was that dominating.

On the opening drive of the game, when it looked like the typical UF start, RB Terry Jackson was on his way into the endzone when he was met by Wilson and coughed up the ball, recovered by fellow linebacker Raynoch Thompson in the endzone. Wilson ended up forcing 3 UF fumbles that game….all recovered by Tennessee.

Al Wilson set the tone for the game….and the season. UT has scored 20 points the year before, and lost. They scored 20 points against UF in 1998, and won. Al Wilson, captain of the defense, had sent a message. No team was going to beat Tennessee in 1998.

That message was put to the test the following week, down on the plains, in Auburn Alabama. The decision was made to keep Wilson out of the game, to hopefully allow time for his still injured shoulder to rest. After losing starting RB Jamal Lewis early in the first quarter, the offense was in disarray. The outcome was to rest solely on the defense.

If Al Wilson hadn't have made the trip to Auburn, I am willing to go on record and say that Auburn would have beat Tennessee that day. I base that on a particular series late in the 3rd quarter, with UT up 17-9. Vol QB Tee Martin was sacked deep in his own territory and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Auburn at the 2 yard line.

With Al Wilson, standing on the sideline in his street clothes, he challenged the Tennessee defense….HIS defense….to make a stand. 4 plays later, the defense came off the field and the offense trotted on, having the ball given to them, at their own 4 yard line. Al Wilson's Tennessee defense made a goal line stand that is of the ages and for the first time that season, the "team of Destiny" was uttered.

The Vols could have easily had a "let down" game after the OT win over UF the week before, they could have packed it in after losing their all-SEC RB in the first quarter, the defense could have blame the offense for fumbling the ball so deep in their own territory. But no fingers were pointed, no heads hung, nobody worried. Wilson wouldn't allow any of those things to happen.

And thus it went for the rest of the 1998 season, including the Fiesta Bowl and first ever BCS championship game. Al Wilson's Tennessee defense met and won all challenges.

A few weeks after the Fiesta Bowl, the Denver Broncos and John Elway won their second straight Super Bowl title and giving them the 31st pick of the NFL draft. Wilson became the 4th Tennessee player taken in the first round in two years, joining Manning, Little and Safety Terry Fair.

While I lost track of a lot of the Wilson lore after his senior season, I never stopped watching the box scores of the Denver games. To be honest, in 1999, I was too busy watching the Tennessee Titans march their way to the Super Bowl than I was watching Wilson's rookie season in Denver.

I do know he was regarded as the fastest Middle Linebacker in the NFL. I know it took him only 3 seasons to be named Captain. I know he was named to the Pro Bowl in 5 of his 8 years, twice after being named All-Pro.

Sadly, he was carted off the field of the Seattle game in 2006….never to set foot in a uniform or on a field ever again. I had hoped to see him again after his release from Denver and even more so after doctors cleared him to play in early 2008.

One of the best compliments I can give him is the outpouring of support I got from the Vol nation in the spring of 2002, when I wore my brand new #56 Al Wilson/Denver home jersey to a Volunteer spring game. When I walked into the stadium from the tunnel, I had about 25 Vol fans behind me who stood and cheered. Not for me, but the jersey I was wearing. I probably was the only person of the 30,000 or so in attendance, who was wearing Wilson's Denver jersey and I still have it to this day.

The name "Wilson", whether it is an orange or blue jersey, has a special place in the hearts of the VOLUNTEER nation.

About the author:
Volfan Brian is a huge University of TN fan and loves writing about them. He can talk about TNs sports rosters and analyze them as well as all college football scores. He's just hoping to see TN on top of college football rankings.