The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Jammer, Williams to take on The Big Apple
04.18.2002 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas -- It's a dream that began in two different cities in the state of Texas, moved to Austin for five and four years, respectively, resulted in All-America collegiate careers and will continue under the bright, big-city lights of New York City this weekend.
Former Longhorns All-America cornerback Quentin Jammer (Angleton, Texas) and offensive tackle Mike Williams (The Colony, Texas) will attend this weekend's NFL Draft festivities at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden with their friends and families. By the end of the day, the pair should be household names as both are expected to be selected early in the day.
Jammer, who left for "The City That Never Sleeps" on Sunday, said he is excited about this weekend. It will be the culmination of a lifetime of training, three months of hard work and traveling across the country for countless interviews with several NFL teams.
"As soon as they call my name and I know where I'm going to be drafted, that's when everything is going to set in," Jammer said. "I might not even shake anyone's hand. I might just hug people. It's really going to hit me that I've fulfilled a life-long dream and will be able to financially take care of my family. I've put my whole life into this moment.
"The first person I'll take care of and the person that has been most instrumental for me is my mom. She basically raised me by herself and I think it was hard for her. She is a strong lady who did a great job of raising me and I admire her for that."
Texas head coach Mack Brown said both his players are worthy of all the attention they will receive this weekend and have bright NFL futures ahead of them.
"Quentin always was a tremendous athlete and football player, but he really blossomed as a NFL prospect when an injury forced him to redshirt as a junior," Brown said. "That gave him a chance to move to corner and allowed him to show his man-to-man coverage abilities. From that point, he's improved as much as any player I've ever seen from the first day until the last in our program. I think he's a no-miss guy in the NFL because of his confidence, tenacity and ability to cover one-on-one.
"When Mike got here, he was forced to play as a backup at both offensive and defensive line because we were so thin. That was a bit unfair to him, but he never complained and just kept working and competing. He was thrown into the fire as a true sophomore, starting against the top pass rushers in the Big 12 and continued to work hard. That experience helped him understand what he needed to do to be successful and he set his mind on that. As a junior, he became a very reliable player and gave us a very good tackle tandem with Leonard Davis. Last year, he became a dominating player, worked extremely hard and has developed into what we feel is the best collegiate offensive lineman in the country."
Jammer and Williams are two of only five players that will be in attendance at Saturday's draft. In fact, of the five players scheduled to be in New York (Fresno State QB David Carr, North Carolina DE Julius Peppers and Miami (Fla.) OT Bryant McKinnie are the others), Brown recruited or coached three of them. In addition to coaching Jammer and Williams the last four years, he successfully recruited 2001 consensus All-American and Lombardi Trophy-winning defensive end Julius Peppers when he was the head coach at North Carolina.
Jammer said he is honored to be one of the five players that will be attending the draft in person.
"They are only bringing five players to New York this year and I was one of the players lucky enough to get invited," he said. "I think it's going to be very exciting for me and my family. I just hope I'm not the last one in the room waiting for my name to be called."
It marks the second consecutive year that one of Brown's UT players has been invited to the draft and the third time in his four years in Austin. All totaled, four former UT players have been in New York for the festivities since 1999. Heisman Trophy-winning running back Ricky Williams (New Orleans Saints/No. 5 overall) was in attendance in 1999 and consensus All-American offensive tackle Leonard Davis (Arizona Cardinals/No. 2 overall) made the trip a year ago.
Jammer and Williams both are expected to be selected among the first 10 picks on Saturday, and if that happens, it will mark the first time in UT history that the program has a pair of first-round choices in consecutive years. In addition to Davis last year, defensive tackle Casey Hampton was a first-round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 19 overall). In fact, the Longhorns have had two players selected in the top 10 in the same draft only once in school annals. That occurred in 1948 when quarterback Bobby Layne (No. 3 overall) and end Max Bumgardner (No. 10 overall) were picked by the Chicago Bears.
As for what team Jammer wants to play for, he said just having the opportunity to play in the NFL is good enough for him.
"I don't really care where I go, I just want to play," he said. "I want to get out there and play football. I'm just going to go out there and enjoy myself because it will be something new and something I've always dreamed of doing."
Jammer is coming off a senior year to remember for UT. He became the Longhorns' first-ever Jim Thorpe Award finalist (nation's outstanding defensive back) and the program's first defensive player to earn unanimous consensus All-American since Jerry Gray in 1984. He registered 55 tackles (46 solo), three TFLs, a pair of interceptions, one forced fumble and a UT-record 24 pass breakups last season. Jammer helped UT lead the country in total defense (236.2 ypg) and to top 10 national rankings in rushing (89.5/sixth), passing (146.7 ypg/third), pass efficiency (88.0 rtg/fourth) and scoring defense (13.7/third). The Longhorns allowed a national-low 4.77 yards per pass attempt and just six touchdown passes (tied for second-lowest nationally). The two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection ended his stellar career with a UT-record 57 PBUs.
Williams developed into one of the nation's top offensive linemen in 2001. He earned first-team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Football Foundation and Football News. He registered 67 knockdown blocks and 64 pancakes, allowed only one sack and helped clear the way on 18 touchdown runs, 34 explosive plays (runs or passes of 12+ yards) and 24-of-25 third down conversions last season. The first-team All-Big 12 performer helped the UT offense score a Big 12-best 39.2 points per game (sixth nationally) and tally 162.3 rushing, 250.3 passing and 412.6 total yards per contest. Williams also was the leader of a Longhorns offensive line that opened holes for UT's seventh consecutive 1,000-yard rusher (Cedric Benson, 1,053 yards).
Tune into ESPN at 11 a.m. on Saturday not only to find out what jersey the two former Longhorns All-Americans will be wearing next season but also where the other 2001 seniors will be going. ESPN2 will conclude Saturday's coverage starting at 6 p.m. and Sunday's action will kick off at 10 a.m. on ESPN. The remainder of the draft will be shown on ESPN2 beginning at noon that day (all times central).
