Aldra Kauwa Wilson (born June 21, 1977) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for eight seasons with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

, earning consensus All-American honors. Wilson was selected by the

in the first round of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

, and played his entire professional career for the Broncos. He was a five-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection and a two-time

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

selection.

Early years

Wilson was born in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...

. He was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n performer at

Jackson Central-Merry High School Jackson Central-Merry Middle and High School also known as (JCMMS, JCMHS, JCM 6-12 or JCM) is both a middle school and high school located in Jackson, Tennessee, United States. The school was active as a high school from 1970 to 2016, during whic ...

in Jackson, as named by BlueChip Illustrated, Max Emfinger, SuperPrep, and recruiting analyst

Tom Lemming Tom Lemming is an American high school football recruiting analyst. Tom Lemming serves as the host of ''The Lemming Report'' on CBS Sports Network, the only national weekly high school football recruiting show. He is the editor of ''The Tom Lemmin ...

. In addition, he was named to the Tennessee all-state team. Wilson was both a

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

at Jackson Central-Merry, rushing for 1,160 yards and 15 touchdowns in his senior season. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in three seasons in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, two as a running back and one as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. In addition to football, he starred in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

College career

Wilson attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, and played for coach

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

team from 1995 to 1998. He was a

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

on the 1998 Tennessee team that won the

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

over

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

and back-to-back

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) championships in the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and 1998 seasons. Wilson was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 1998 after being a three-year starter for the Volunteers. Wilson was known for his leadership. For his efforts on the field, on December 7, 2021, Wilson was inducted into the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

Professional career

Wilson was drafted after his final year at Tennessee as the 31st pick in the first round of the

and signed to the Denver Broncos due to the assistance of super agent

Tank Black William H. "Tank" Black Jr. (born March 11, 1957) is a former sports agent. Black was an assistant coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks before starting his Columbia, South Carolina-based sports agency, Professional Management Inco ...

Denver Broncos

Over the course of his professional career, Wilson was the anchor of the Broncos' defense. Wilson made his NFL debut against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in the Broncos' 1999 season opener. He recorded his first sack in Week 5 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. He finished the 1999 season with 77 total tackles, four passes defended, and two forced fumbles. In his second season, he had five sacks, 61 total tackles, three interceptions, and eight passes defended in 15 games of the 2000 season. Wilson had three sacks, 85 total tackles, and five passes defended in the 2001 season. He earned his first Pro Bowl nomination. In the 2002 season, Wilson had five sacks, 132 total tackles (100 solo), four passes defended, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. He led the team in tackles and earned his second Pro Bowl nomination. In the 2003 season, Wilson led the Broncos in tackles for the second consecutive year with 88. He earned his third consecutive Pro Bowl nomination for his performance in the 2003 season. In Week 11 of the 2004 season, against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, Wilson had a seven-yard pick six for his first NFL touchdown. In the 2004 season, Wilson had 2.5 sacks, 105 total tackles, two interceptions, five passes defended, and two forced fumbles. Wilson earned a fourth Pro Bowl nomination for his 2005 season, where he had three sacks, 73 total tackles, nine passes defended, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 4 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

, where he had two forced fumbles. He was named as a first team All-Pro for 2005. On December 3, 2006, Wilson suffered a neck injury during a fake field goal attempt against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

during the ''Sunday Night Football'' game. He was carted off the field and immediately taken to a hospital, but was cleared by the Denver Broncos to return the following week to help Denver try to make the playoffs. Wilson led the team in tackles with 102 in the 2006 season. He earned his fifth Pro Bowl nomination. The Denver Broncos signed many free agents during the 2007 offseason, such as running back

Travis Henry Travis Deion Henry (born October 29, 1978) is a former American football running back who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Tennessee. He was drafted by the Bills in t ...

and quarterback

Patrick Ramsey Patrick Allen Ramsey (born February 14, 1979) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. Ramsey has also b ...

, resulting in some

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

trouble. The Broncos attempted to trade Wilson to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, but Wilson failed his physical and the trade talks died down. Wilson was released by the Denver Broncos on April 13, 2007, due to injuries and salary cap problems.

Free agency and retirement

Wilson was cleared to return to resume playing by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

back specialist Bob Watkins in January 2008. On February 12, he had his first visit of the offseason with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. He also visited the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in March, but he rejected their offer for close to the veteran minimum. Wilson officially announced his retirement from professional football on September 10, 2008.

NFL statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

After his career with the Denver Broncos ended, Wilson started a career as a Colorado football executive. Wilson became the co-owner of Project FANchise, which puts fans in control of professional teams. In addition, he acquired the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

’s Colorado Crush.

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Al 1977 births Living people All-American college football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American football linebackers Denver Broncos players Sportspeople from Jackson, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee Tennessee Volunteers football players