Best Tennessee football players: Modern-era Mount Rushmore: From Peyton Manning to Eric Berry

Was anybody going to leave Al Wilson off the list? He technically doesn’t meet the criteria for Tennessee football retiring his jersey number, but he is still so beloved the Vols found a way to honor him at Neyland Stadium anyway by putting him on the scoreboard next to Robert Neyland. As the lone All-American on the 1998 national title team, he deserved it.

Wilson was always a leader on defense, but in 1997 he was in the shadows of Leonard Little and Terry Fair. After both guys left along with Peyton Manning, Wilson was tasked with carrying the team in 1998. He did just that with the greatest individual performance in school history against the Florida Gators that year, forcing three first-half fumbles in a 20-17 overtime win.

Despite missing a couple of games due to injury and playing all year banged up, Wilson led the team that year with 77 tackles. He recovered five fumbles and had four sacks, six tackles for a loss, three passes broken up and an interception. This was all in the process of moving to middle linebacker after playing the previous three years at outside linebacker.

As a pro with the Denver Broncos, Wilson made five Pro Bowls in eight years. A few Vols may have had slightly better pro careers, but none of them had the combination of leadership and production Wilson had in college. Sure, in 1998, Tee Martin was solid at quarterback, Price was a playmaker and Jeff Hall was clutch. But Wilson was the heart and soul of that team.