MADISON, Miss. — As the son of a sharecropper and the 10th of 11 children, Sammy Winder grew up poor in Mississippi before going on to be a star running back with the Denver Broncos.

But that wasn’t exactly his ultimate goal.

When Winder was a kid growing up in Madison, just north of Jackson, he rode a tractor on a farm. He began to dream about what it would be like to operate some heavier equipment.

“I was fascinated with power,’’ he said. “I wanted to ride a bulldozer.”

And that’s what Winder does plenty of now. He is 66 and economically secure, but he often spends 50 hours a week operating a bulldozer and an excavator at construction sites in Mississippi.

Some might find that not exactly glamorous, but it is for Winder. After playing for the Broncos from 1982-90 and rushing for 5,427 yards, third in team history, and making two Pro Bowls, he retired. Then he began to do what he had always wanted.

“After playing for the Broncos and getting a little money, I went out and got me a bulldozer and an excavator,’’ Winder said.

The former Denver star then founded Winder Construction, which was in business for about 20 years doing site prep for the building of new homes in the Jackson area. But after a housing crunch hit during an economic downturn in 2009 and 2010, business began to slow down.

Winder then spent about 10 years as a manager for two garbage companies in the Jackson area. But he had begun to get restless.

“It was nice and I had no qualms (with the business), but I just couldn’t get bulldozing out of my mind,’’ Winder said. “I’m a bulldozer man.”

So Winder, who had previously sold his bulldozer and his excavator, bought a smaller excavator and did some odd jobs. Then about two years ago, he hooked up with Steve Chisholm, a longtime friend who runs the construction company Steve Chisholm LLC.

Winder helps Chisholm and other workers doing site prep for the building of homes. Standing on a recent morning alongside a bulldozer he has been operating at a work site in Madison, Winder couldn’t have been happier.

“I’m having the time of my life,’’ he said.

Keep in mind that Winder long has been a celebrity in Mississippi. He starred at Southern Mississippi from 1978-81 and his No. 45 was retired by the school and hangs prominently at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

But operating heavy equipment long has been Winder’s passion, and he plans to keep doing it until he is physically unable.

“People are surprised,’’ Chisholm said of those who encounter the former football star at work sites. “But they love him to death here. They figure that he’d be retired and be kicking back now, but that’s not his way. Sammy’s not going to sit around. He always wants to do something. And his childhood dream was to run bulldozers.”

Along the way, Winder also found time to become the greatest running back in Southern Mississippi history and one of the best ever for the Broncos. The son of Henry Winder, a sharecropper, had starred at Ridgeland High School in Madison County and with the help of a benefactor was able to walk on at Southern Mississippi.

It didn’t take long for Winder to earn a scholarship and become a star for the Golden Eagles. By his junior season of 1980, he rushed for 996 yards and led the nation in scoring with 20 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,129 yards as a senior in 1981.

In 1980, Winder scored one of the most legendary touchdowns in the state’s college history in the Eagles’ 28-22 win over Mississippi. Winder completed an 11-yard run by diving from the 5-yard line 2 yards deep into the end zone. The play is known in the state as “The Leap” and can be watched at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum in Jackson.

“That’s the one play the general public will never let me forget,’’ Winder said. “That’s the one that everybody brings up. It wasn’t planned or envisioned of anything. It was just one of those moments in time that happened.”

Winder ended up being a fifth-round pick by the Broncos in the 1982 draft. By 1984, wearing No. 23 in the NFL, he had the best season of his career, rushing for 1,153 yards.

With Winder coming up big and John Elway in his second season at quarterback, the Broncos surprised the NFL by going 13-3, although they were upset 24-17 by Pittsburgh in their playoff opener. But the season included Winder being on the cover of the Oct. 8, 1984, Sports Illustrated alongside the headline, “The Broncos Bust Out.” An enlarged photo of the magazine hangs at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum and Winder has a framed copy of it at his home in Madison.

“That was tremendous,’’ Winder said. “To be among the select few on the cover of Sports Illustrated was great. I had a bunch of copies, but I was so generous in giving them away. Now I probably have just two or three.”

Winder that season also made his first Pro Bowl.

“That was awesome going over to Hawaii and rubbing elbows with guys I thought were ‘Mister Football’ at their positions. I was in awe,’’ said Winder, mentioning running back Marcus Allen and defensive end Howie Long of the Raiders and safety Kenny Easley of the Seahawks as players he admired. “How can I be with these guys? They are something else. I can’t be that quality of a player.”

Winder didn’t have another NFL 1,000-yard season, but he did make the Pro Bowl again in 1986. He was a consistent back, having four other seasons of rushing between 714 and 789 yards.

Winder also developed into an effective receiver. After having just 11 catches in four college seasons, he had NFL seasons in which he caught 31 and 44 balls.

“He was a very good all-around back,’’ said Roger Jackson, a Broncos defensive back from 1982-85 and in 1987 who has remained close to Winder. “When Sammy came to Denver, when we were both rookies, he couldn’t catch a cold buck naked in Alaska. He couldn’t catch a beach ball. That’s how bad his hands were. But he worked at it every day and he got to the point where he caught balls darn good.”

Winder had a memorable reception in the 1987 AFC championship game against Cleveland at Mile High Stadium. With the score tied 31-31, he took a short pass from Elway and scored from 20 yards out for the go-ahead score with just over 4 minutes remaining. The Broncos held on to win 38-33 in a game most famous for running back Earnest Byner losing a fumble before crossing the goal line with just over 1 minute left when the Browns could have tied the game 38-38.

“It was a halfback screen pass and I just took it down the sideline and scored,’’ Winder said of his big catch. “The fans were on their feet. It was tremendous.’’

Winder then did his iconic “Mississippi Mud Walk” touchdown celebration. It involved lifting each leg up several times while swaying side to side and then spiking the ball.

Two years later, Winder scored two touchdowns in Denver’s 37-21 win over the Browns in the 1989 AFC Championship Game at Mile High Stadium. His second, a 39-yard grab from Elway with 12:35 left in the game, gave the Broncos a 31-21 lead.

Denver beat the Browns in three AFC championship games in the 1980s to advance to the Super Bowl. The Broncos, though, were wiped out in all three Super Bowls, 39-20 in the 1986 season to the New York Giants; 42-10 to Washington in 1987; and 55-10 to San Francisco in 1989.

“Of course I would have loved to have won one, but it was an honor going to three Super Bowls,’’ said Winder, who struggled in the three games, carrying a combined 13 times for 25 yards. “There are some names who are a heck of lot more famous than mine that haven’t been to one Super Bowl.”

By the season of the third Super Bowl loss, Winder had become a reserve. With Bobby Humphrey taking over as the starter and having 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 1989 and 1990, Winder had just 351 yards in 1989 and 120 in 1990. He then retired.

“I was more than happy to hand (Humphrey) the torch,’’ said Winder, whose 48 regular-season touchdowns rank sixth in Broncos history. “I wanted to be on a bulldozer.’’

His teammates weren’t surprised when Winder went from a field of grass at Mile High Stadium to fields of dirt in Mississippi.

“When he was playing, he was always talking about how when he retired that he was going to get bulldozers and dump trucks and stuff,’’ said Jackson, who lives in Macon, Ga. “That’s just the way he is. What fits him is wearing overalls and a straw hat. He’s just a country boy.”

Winder returns to Colorado every few years to visit his sister, Diane Lewis, who lives in the Denver area. But most of the time now he doesn’t stray too far from his home in Madison, where he lives with his wife, Filista. They’ve been married for more than 30 years.

The job he is working now is scheduled to last about 2 1/2 weeks. It has included clearing trees and bringing in 325 loads of dirt to prepare a house pad. Winder, who arrives on weekdays at the work site at 7 a.m. and leaves at 5 p.m. without taking a lunch break, operates a bulldozer and an excavator with great enthusiasm.

“You show him a set of plans and he can go do it,’’ Chisholm said. “He brings a lot of knowledge. He’s really good and he helps me out a lot. He’s a really good person. It’s his passion to do this.”

So how much of a passion is this for Winder?

“I told my wife that when I retire, I’m going to move the bulldozer into the house,” Winder said.