Al Wilson was a bad man

#31
#31
Awesome. Man we had some studs on D back in the 90s.

Those old giant shoulder pads though.
 
#33
#33
Al Wilson is by far my favorite Vol of all time! LB is the position I enjoy watching the most during games and he played it better than anyone I’ve seen at Tennessee.
 
#34
#34
Chills...

I wonder why linebackers don’t wear those big, tall shoulder pads anymore. To me they look intimidating as he!!
 
#36
#36
I remember two things about Al Wilson. I was a student at the same time he was there. Nothing was as impressive as seeing him play with good sideline seats. You could see how fast and ferocious we was. It was also amazing to see him and Little around campus. They were huge!
 
#37
#37
ButchPlz said:
Why did dudes back then look so much more like grown men than the players now?
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Boys now seem more feminine, smaller, and slower to develop. I may be wrong, but my wife and I have discussed this before and we both feel this way. Again, maybe nothing has changed, but it sure seems that way. (We are 31 and 25 respectively)
 
#38
#38
Hacksaw said:
Al was the real MVP of the national championship team. The way I heard it, he would get after anyone on the team who he thought wasn't going full speed all the time. And he was so intense that they actually feared not living up to his expectations. I don't know how true that is, but it sure looked like that on gameday.
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"Get on them" doesn't remotely tell the story. There was a starting defensive lineman who had developed a tendency to dog it in practice and not focus. The story goes that Wilson finally hits his breaking point and invites the guy to go outside the locker room to discuss his lack of effort. Even though the guy had 70 lbs on Al he wisely declined the invitation and didn't give them any more problems. He knew he'd have to kill Wilson to beat him.
 
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#41
#41
Hawkeye4588 said:
I love it!

I did see at least two (what would be called today) targeting calls in that montage though. Shows how that part of the game has changed as well.
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At first I was just going to flat out disagree with you. His technique was impeccable, never leading with the crown of his helmet, kept his head up the entire time. His speed and anticipation of the game put him in the right position. That hit on McNabb was not late and not targeting.

However, these days, you are probably correct. He would’ve been thrown out of every game he played. He was too intense for today’s game.

All time top 10 Vol… Modern day top two or three. The definition of old school and leader.

I have to stop now. I could go on forever it seems with respect for him as a player and a man. True VFL. Great representative of this university.
 
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#42
#42
Don't get me wrong btw, I hate the new targeting rules. As a physician I am a big proponent to limiting traumatic brain injuries but they have gone too far. Not all hits with the crown of the helmet are malicious. I think there should be a separate penalty for incidental contact that does not result in game ejection.
 
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#43
#43
BigOrangeMojo said:
My first reception in HS was a slant against Jackson Central Merry as a freshman. I saw Al headed my way and I made a business decision and slipped...
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If I remember correctly he hit my brothers buddy so hard on a kickoff he warped his face mask and they had to unscrew it to get his helmet off. Pretty sure that was Al.
 
#44
#44
My favorite VFL! He was more impressive off the field because of his character and integrity concerning other people, especially those who were less fortunate!
 
#45
#45
kptvol1 said:
Boys now seem more feminine, smaller, and slower to develop. I may be wrong, but my wife and I have discussed this before and we both feel this way. Again, maybe nothing has changed, but it sure seems that way. (We are 31 and 25 respectively)
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Back in that era kids worked at hard jobs and developed muscles along with eating a much different diet. Just look at what these kids are eating and drinking these days and all they do as far as exercise is play a video game or something on their phone.
 
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