This article was originally published in The Denver Post on Sept. 17, 2006.
Klis: You left Tennessee as a national champion and joined a team coming off back-to-back Super Bowl championships. Yet, that championship combination hasn’t added up to another championship. Have you ever had times here where you felt like you missed out on something?
Wilson: No, it never bothered me. Coming out, every player that got drafted in the first round, outside the No. 1 pick or so, would have wanted to be in my position – coming off a national championship team and going to a two-time defending Super Bowl champion. I was on top of the world. I just feel like, be patient
and when the timing is right, the championship will come.
Klis: Tell us about Jackson, Tenn. Isn’t that Johnny Cash country?
Wilson: Not Johnny Cash. Ed “Too Tall” Jones is from Jackson. Myself and Too Tall are the two NFL players from the city. We have a few guys in the league now (Artis Hicks, Jabari Greer, Trey Teague). It’s a small town, 50,000 to 60,000. Near Memphis.
Klis: Ah, Johnny Cash lived around Nashville. Jay Cutler country. Anyway, what’s Tennessee like compared to Colorado?
Wilson: Depends what part of Tennessee you’re talking about. Jackson, Tenn., I wouldn’t change it for the world. The city made me who I am. It taught me a lot without having a lot. It was a challenge growing up, but a great learning experience.
Klis: When Big Al was little Al growing up in Jackson, what did he do?
Wilson: To stay out of trouble, stay off the streets, I played sports. I played basketball, football, baseball, boxing, soccer.
Klis: I heard you were quite the boxer.
Wilson: I did it all, man. It was my way of staying out of trouble. When I left one sport, I went to another.
Klis: Mom raised you. Tell me about her.
Wilson: She was a secretary. A struggling secretary, if I must say. Just struggling to keep food on the table, keep the lights on, water running. Those type of things that you don’t appreciate as a kid. Things you realize as you get older how tough it was on her and you try to make her life better.
Klis: If you don’t mind me asking, what are some of the things you’ve been able to do for her?
Wilson: I bought her a house down there in Jackson, which most guys would love to do for their mothers. I was blessed with an opportunity to do it. Take care of some essentials. What I want for her is to relax, live life to the fullest. Don’t worry about bills. Let me handle that.
Klis: How about when it’s time for you to relax? What do you do once you leave Dove Valley each day?
Wilson: I’ll study anywhere up to two or three hours. Film. Assignments. After that, I’m a guy who can watch TV all day. I feel like I work so hard and put so much into my job that any time I have an opportunity to rest, I take full advantage of it.
Klis: Do you watch sports, other NFL games?
Wilson: I’m not a sports guy. I’ve become a movie guy.
Klis: What’s the last good movie you saw?
Wilson: The last movie I watched was “Freedomland.” It was OK. Some people said it was great, but it was just OK for me.
Klis: This is your eighth year in the NFL, or another year closer to life after football. Got your money in order, your vision on something?
Wilson: I don’t want to get into too much detail, but I am in the process of getting things together for after football. I hope to leave this game on my terms and not have to stay in for financial reasons, like a lot of guys do. I do want to walk away by choice.
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
