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Al “Dirt” Wilson

Most Consistent. Solid Football Player.

In the years since his football career ended in 1986, honors and recognition poured into Al Wilson’s life. The British Columbia Lions, his Canadian Football League club, retired Wilson’s No. 52 jersey and he was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame, the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, and the B.C. Lions Wall of Fame. A street – Al Wilson Grove – and park Alan Wilson Park was named in his honor in his hometown of Duncan, B.C.

Before professional football glory, Al Wilson starred at Montana State. And before that, his football roots grew in his hometown of Duncan, British Columbia, playing on a loosely organized club team. And through it all, his career was aptly summarized by a nickname he picked up early in his professional career with the BC Lions.

Dirt.

“That had to do with some off-field antics and there’s probably only one teammate alive that remembers how it originated,” he says with a hearty laugh. “It had nothing to do with football, and it will remain a secret.

Regardless of its origins, his playing style helped the moniker stick. “The reporters loved it. They said, ‘He was always rummaging around in the dirt as an offensive center,’ and I let them believe that,” Wilson remembered.

Read full bio on pages 25-27 in our 2023 Hall of Fame Ceremony Book (PDF).