Tennessee football: 20 years ago, winningest Vols of modern era went pro

Tennessee football was in a very different place when the 1999 NFL Draft came around. That year, the winningest Volunteers of the modern era were taken.

It’s not the most successful Tennessee football NFL Draft class ever. In fact, the draft classes the year before and after were deeper and saw way more successful pro careers. But members of the Vols’ 1999 NFL Draft class are in rare company.

With the 2019 NFL Draft set to be underway, we go back and look at that class to realize how different times are. And it’s not about the numbers. The few Vols with a chance to be selected in this year’s NFL Draft, or to have any sort of a pro career, are entering the pros off two losing seasons, one of which is the worst in school history.

In 1999, though, Vols entering the NFL Draft were coming off a national championship. But that’s not what makes this class unique. The 2000 Tennessee football draft class was deeper, as we already mentioned, and was also part of the 1998 national title team.

But the six players who went in the 1999 NFL Draft could lay their claim as members of the most successful winning class in the modern era of Tennessee football. They came off a four-year run in which the Vols won two SEC Championships, finished in the top 10 all four times and the top 5 twice, obviously won the national championship, and never failed to have fewer than 10 wins.

No Tennessee football four-year class had more wins than those who played from 1995 to 1998. But while those are team accomplishments, it’s also worth noting that despite fewer players than 1998 and 2000 draft classes, there were more key players.

You could maybe make a case for 1998 with Peyton Manning and Leonard Little. However, Al Wilson and Peerless Price rival that, and they were both taken in 1999. Wilson was an All-American and future NFL Pro Bowler, just like Manning and Little, and he was the leader of the 1998 title team. Price is the greatest impact player in Tennessee football history.

But the Vols also had their most clutch kicker in school history taken in that year’s NFL Draft. Now, it didn’t work out for Jeff Hall in the pros, but he was clutch on Rocky Top and by far the most beloved place-kicker the school ever had.

Meanwhile, Shawn Bryson is the most complete fullback ever to play for the Vols. He was actually a true running back but was so strong and such a team player that he could block as well as anybody, and unlike many backs, he showed a willingness to do so. That made him a huge weapon in the running game, especially after Jamal Lewis went down.

Bryson and Hall were both voted team captains alongside Wilson. At the same time, Bryson, Wilson and Price had solid NFL careers. Also joining this crew were Corey Terry and Steve Johnson. Now, they didn’t last as long in the pros either. But they get to lay their claim to this few but elite group of players.

The ironic part about this draft class is how thin it was in numbers, as we’ve already mentioned. But 20 years later, after a horrible two-year run, the Vols would kill for even a chance to have close to six guys taken in the NFL Draft. That won’t happen this year. But it was still worth taking a look back at this rare class in Tennessee football history.