Windell Middlebrooks' first Miller High Life commercial remains his favorite.

You may have seen it.

"Somebody's about to lose their High Life privileges," he says before his burly beer deliveryman storms into an upscale bistro.

"You see, this beer is about helping people live the high life," he continues as he liberates the High Life from the bistro's cooler. "It's a good honest beer at a tasty price."

As he exits he says to the maitre d', "You mess with the High Life, and the High Life will mess with you ... $11.50 for a hamburger, ya'll must be crazy!"

It's the hamburger line that really tickles Middlebrooks because strangers yell it back to him all the time. Except, he said, they never get it right.

"That poor hamburger has been $35.62, $78.99 ... people will shout all kinds of numbers," Middlebrooks said in a phone interview, taking a break from filming the sitcom "Scrubs," where he plays a recurring character.

"I love it," he added. "But what I do appreciate is that something I have said has stuck with somebody, that they've enjoyed it and are repeating it because it's something they can relate to."

Everybody's favorite beer deliveryman will be in Lincoln Friday and Saturday, spreading some "common sense" as he roots for Nebraska's football team this weekend against Oklahoma. He will visit area grocery and convenience stores and downtown bars and crash tailgates before the game.

Middlebrooks has worked steadily as an actor since receiving his master's degree in 2005 from the University of California-Irvine, with appearances on "The Bernie Mac Show," "My Name is Earl" and "Hannah Montana." He also has a recurring character on Disney's "The Suite Life on Deck."

But the big fellow is best known as the opinionated deliveryman, whom Miller introduced to the masses in the fall of 2006. And he doesn't mind that one bit.

"This is such an added bonus (to my acting career)," he said. "I'm from Texas and what you see is what you get. So being a part of something that you connect with and that you believe in ... you can't take this for granted."

There's no denying that Middlebrooks' character has struck a chord with audiences.

We've seen Windell taking Miller High Life out of stadium skyboxes and hoity-toity nightclubs to give it to the ordinary folk. And he never does it quietly.

"I get to do what a lot of us want to do - walk in and say what's on our mind," he said.

Getting into character helps, he said, when you're endorsing a product you're extremely familiar with and enjoy.

"I come from a Miller family," he said. "I remember growing up my grandmother drinking Miller Lite in the white cans with the big block letters. That's what I know as beer."

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.