AUBURN, Ala. – Fifty years after his last game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Steve Wilson returned to the Plains, surrounded by his teammates from Auburn's famed 1972 Amazins.

"Does my body feel like it's been 50 years? Yes," he said. "My roommates? That's like yesterday. That part never changes, my best friends."

Flanked by Mike Neel, Bill Newton and Bobby Davis, his fellow linebackers on one of Shug Jordan's favorite Auburn teams, Wilson received the Walter Gilbert Award on Homecoming before the Tigers played Missouri.

"We had a whole team in '72 like us," Wilson said. "I feel like I'm representing the Amazins, particularly the linebackers. I was fortunate to be here at an outstanding time. We were in the top 10 or top five every year."

Auburn annually presents the Walter Gilbert Award to a former student-athlete for achievements after graduation.

"I'm just overwhelmed," Wilson said on the sideline of Pat Dye Field, holding the trophy he'd received moments earlier. "It's unlike any feeling I've ever had in my life. I'm deeply appreciative."

Since 1980, Wilson has practiced law in Huntsville, handling business and corporate matters, estate planning, probate, civil litigation, bankruptcy and taxation.  

When his Auburn football playing career concluded in 1972, Wilson planned to become a college coach.

"I coached the freshman linebackers for two years and got an MBA (from Auburn University's Harbert College of Business)," said Wilson, whose opportunity to coach at Oklahoma ended when the NCAA reduced the size of coaching staffs. "So that was that."

Thus began a law career that has spanned five decades.

"I didn't want to take three years out of my life but I did," said Wilson, who graduated from Samford's Cumberland School of Law. "My dean and law professor said, 'You need to go to tax school.'"

Wilson earned his master of laws in taxation from Georgetown in Washington D.C, practicing law in the nation's capital before returning to his hometown.

Wilson starred at Lee High School in Huntsville, Alabama, but frequently visited his grandparents in Manchester, Georgia, 65 miles northeast of Auburn, facilitating his first visit to the Plains.

"I came down here when I was a junior in high school," said Wilson, impressed by former Auburn football standouts Lloyd Nix and Morris Savage, who played on the Tigers' national championship team in 1957.

"Auburn had Morris and Lloyd and nobody else did," Wilson said. "They affected my life tremendously, and I'm sure a lot of other boys."

After Pat Sullivan won the Heisman Trophy in 1971, many expected 1972 to be a rebuilding year, with Sullivan and Terry Beasley gone.

Instead, Steve Wilson and the The Amazins carved a special place in Auburn history, ending the season with a 10-1 record and No. 5 ranking. A half century later, Wilson's fondness for Auburn has only increased.

"Everything in the world," Wilson said. "I wouldn't be where I am without it. There's nothing I'm prouder of. I hope everyone is as proud of Auburn as I am. There's nothing like it."

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer