Former Tennessee offensive lineman Bruce Wilkerson says he remembers it like it was yesterday.

"I had borrowed my cousin's motorcycle when I was playing at UT, and was trying to impress my teammates with how good I could ride," Wilkerson said. "I came around the corner, in front of Gibbs Hall, and saw a group of the guys hanging out. So, I popped a wheelie riding down the street."

Wilkerson rode the motorcycle down to the bottom of the hill, then turned around to go visit with the group. As he pulled up, he expected the guys to be laughing. They weren't.

Slowly a familiar face stepped out of the group and greeted Wilkerson. UT coach Johnny Majors wasn't impressed with the motorcycle stunts his big offensive lineman had just performed.

"Majors was pretty quick and to the point," Wilkerson chuckled. "He told me that he was calling my dad immediately to come and get the bike and that I was not allowed to ride one again."

Wilkerson loves to ride motorcycles, but his riding days at Tennessee were over. When Wilkerson went to the NFL, after being drafted by the Raiders in the second round of the 1987 draft, one of the first things he purchased was a new bike.

"My problem was trying to figure out how to ride it in Los Angeles," Wilkerson said. "I was scared to death the first time I got on the highway. What I ended up doing was heading straight over the lane closest to the guard rail. I figured out that if I was in that lane I only had to worry about a car swerving into my lane from one side. Riding a bike on a six lane highway was scary."

Wilkerson enjoyed a successful 11-year career in the NFL, spending time with the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers. But his greatest memories are of his days in Knoxville.

"There's no game that ever compared to the Sugar Bowl win over Miami," Wilkerson said. It was important for me in more ways than one. Obviously we beat the crud out of Miami, 35-7. But, for me it was the game when the NFL scouts kind of discovered me. I played right guard, right tackle and then left tackle in that game. After the Miami game, the scouts knew I could play anywhere on the line in the NFL."

You'll occasionally see Wilkerson at UT games, but your odds are better of seeing him outside the stadium tailgating than in the stands.

"Those seats at the stadium aren't made for a guy my size," he said. "I'll go to the game if I can stand on the field over in the corner so that I can stand and stretch my legs out. But, sitting in those narrow seats is just too hard for me."

Wilkerson has earned his chance to rest and relax after the workouts Majors and Phillip Fulmer put him through.

"I was at UT for 5 years," he said. "And, every year we had an endurance test when we reported for fall drills. They made us run sixteen 110's. We had to run them in a certain time. In my 5 years, I made it successfully only twice. David Douglas (a former teammate of Wilkerson's) used to say that by the time the season began the team was through with two-a-days, but that I was done with three-a-days, because they made me run early every morning because I couldn't pass the endurance test."

Wilkerson works as a machinist at Alcoa Aluminum plant. He's been there for 51/2 years. He says his motorcycle days are almost over.

"I drive a Honda 1800, but my knees are so bad now that retirement from motorcycles is coming soon," he said.

Wilkerson doesn't do wheelies anymore. But, even if he could, he'd probably make sure Majors is nearby to call his dad about it.

Mark Packer hosts the Locker Room, presented by Tennessee Traditions at 10 p.m. on Sunday's on UPN-Knoxville.