Play in the Steering Wheel

For some reason my steering wheel in my 01 Jetta has suddenly developed some slop in it. I can grab it at any point on the circumference of the wheel and pull towards me and push back towards the dash and it goes thunk.. thunk... maybe a good 1/16th of an inch. What might be causing this?

Anybody?

I haven't had mine apart, but I think there would be a big nut holding it to a shaft. you might also check underneath where it connects to rack. not a real common problem on these cars