Tennessee Football: 10 Vols Who Were Robbed of Postseason Awards in School History

Sep 12, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers mascot carries the flag through the fans during Vol Walk prior to the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

8. Al Wilson

Year: 1998

Award: Dick Butkus Award (Best LB)

Winner: Chris Claiborne, USC Trojans

Al Wilson was the centerpiece of a national championship team who forced three fumbles in a game to defeat the No. 2 team in the country at the time.

Chris Claiborne was a star on a down USC Trojans football team that finished 8-5 on the year. But coming away with six interceptions and returning two for touchdowns seemed to be enough to elevate him above Wilson for the Butkus Award.

That was ridiculous.

As the voters have shown, they will conveniently decide when team success plays a role in a player’s award, and of course, they flat-out ignored it here. But other Vols players were robbed of awards because of lack of team success, which we can get to later.

Anyway, Wilson was clearly the best linebacker in all of college football that year, and he enjoyed an eight-year NFL career after that as one of the best linebackers in the league, so he is another guy who was snubbed in college but had the last laugh…as a champion and as a better NFL player.

Next: #7: Thorpe-Eric Berry in 2008