A fast, hard-hitting linebacker and one of the best defensive leaders the Broncos ever had, Al Wilson’s career was too short, but it was brilliant.
Al Wilson was drafted by the Denver Broncos at the end of the first round in the 1999 NFL Draft, their first pick after the retirement of John Elway. He immediately impressed and made substantial contributions to the Broncos, starting 12 games as a rookie and coming second in the team in tackles.
For the rest of Wilsons seven year career, all in Denver, he would start and be a major contributor every game he was healthy. The early 2000s were, in retrospect, a last call for talented interior linebacker play. Running and stopping the run was vastly more important than it would be a few short years later, and because unlike in today’s NFL the goal for most defenses was to play base defense most of the time, linebackers who had speed to cover the entire field were particularly valuable. Wilson was one of the best of these linebackers. His 5 pro-bowls and 2 all-pro recognition’s show just how elite he was in those days, and against fierce competition for those slots. Wilson was a sure tackler, a renown leader, and one of the fastest linebackers in the game.
On December 3rd 2006, Denver faced Seattle on Sunday Night Football. In the 4th quarter Denver’s defense had not given up a point when Wilson’s neck was injured in a dive over a loose ball. He was taken off the field on a stretcher. Seattle would score on each of their remaining drives, including the game winner with 10 seconds remaining. While the worst was feared, Wilson was cleared to return to football the next week. He started three more games before sitting the last game of the season. In the off-season, Denver tried to trade Wilson, but he failed a physical. Denver then released him because of injury concerns. The following year he had a physician declare him able to resume play, but no team would take much risk on him and unsatisfied with minimum salary offers he retired from football. The end of his career looks absolutely like a textbook example of a team physician encouraging an injured player to return to the field too quickly.
Wilson’s career was cut painfully short due to his neck injury. If he had been able to play at his level for a few more years, Wilson was close to being a hall of famer.
After retiring from the NFL, Wilson has remained an ambassador of the game and somewhat active in supporting and commenting on the Broncos.
If you want to read more about Al Wilson, here is a great interview and retrospective from MHR in 2016.
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