"There must be something therapeutic about sawing,’’ the stout man said with a chuckle.

If the category is University of Tennessee football legends, any true Vols fan could identify the speaker.

At 58, Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds might not have the lateral movement he once did. But you still wouldn’t want to try going over him in a goal-line stand.

Reynolds was back in town Thursday, once again performing surgery on an old car.

This time he’s getting paid for it rather than venting frustrations.

Thursday’s sawing was a promotional appearance for LENOX, a manufacturer of tools and saws.

In November 1969, it was a grimmer scene.

It was Reynolds’ senior year and the unbeaten, third-ranked Vols were embarrassed 38-0 by Archie Manning and Ole Miss in Jackson, Miss.

"I came back to school and I was very upset,’’ Reynolds said. "I had to do something to relieve my frustration.’’

Nothing spelled relief to Reynolds like sawing.

He vented on a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air that had been abandoned on a wooded hillside across the river from campus.

"It didn’t have a motor in it,’’ Reynolds said. "We had a guy who had a Jeep and we’d go up on the bluff and push that car around with the Jeep and run into trees with it.

"Something any normal, red-blooded American guys would do.’’

Reynolds purchased a pack of hacksaw blades on Kingston Pike and went to work on Sunday afternoon.

He finished sometime Monday, 13 blades later.

"I was going to cut it in half and make a trailer,’’ he said. "That was some hard steel.

"You can’t cut through a car with a hacksaw unless you cut it three or four times. I was breaking blades like crazy.’’

The next day, Reynolds and some teammates returned to admire his handiwork and got a surprise.

"Lo and behold, somebody had stolen both halves,’’ Reynolds said.

"All that was there was the logs I had it propped up on, the broken blades and the pieces of metal broke off the car.’’

The masterpiece may have been gone, but Reynolds had a nickname for life.

He played 11 years for the Los Angeles Rams and then four more for the San Francisco 49ers.

Reynolds made two Pro Bowls and earned two Super Bowl rings with the 49ers, in 1981 and 1984.

After 15 seasons, he retired in ’84. He divides his time between homes in the Bahamas and Miami.

"I have all kinds of saws,’’ he said. "There’s something about sawing.

"I always said I was a cut above the other guys.’’