Breaking Into the Clear

More than a year removed from his last USC football game, Mike Williams once again is working hard to achieve separation.

Separation from the rest of the receivers at the NFL combine.

And separation from Maurice Clarett.

“I think we’re always going to be linked together,” Williams said of Clarett, the former Ohio State running back who last year sued the NFL for the right to enter the draft a year early. A judge first ruled in favor of Clarett -- a decision that led to sophomore Williams’ hiring an agent and thereby losing his NCAA eligibility -- but an appeals court reversed the decision before the draft, leaving Williams and Clarett out of football last season.

Said Clarett of Williams: “I probably felt more bad for him than myself. It was like I started it and he kind of got caught in my web.”

Unlike Clarett, who was suspended by Ohio State for several alleged NCAA rules infractions, Williams didn’t have people questioning his character, only the wisdom of his decision, which was made against the advice of the league. Regardless, with less than two months to go until the draft, Williams is ready to put that all behind him.

“Just to have an opportunity to play, regardless of who it’s with, just to actually get back on the field and do what I love to do is the most important,” he said Friday, speaking to reporters during a break from his team-interview obligations at the combine.

Michigan’s Braylon Edwards is widely regarded as the best receiver in the draft, but at 6 feet 3, 208 pounds he’s two inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than Williams, who in two seasons at USC caught 176 passes for 2,579 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Several NFL scouts and executives project Williams to be selected around the middle of the first round, possibly between the 10th and 15th picks. But others say he could go sooner, particularly if he shakes the notion that he doesn’t have the speed to be a first-rate playmaker.

Like many of the top prospects, Williams does not plan to run or lift for scouts at the combine. He’ll sit for interviews, and already has spoken to several teams, but he won’t work out for them until his personal “pro day” on March 10 at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

“The combine, it’s a stage, but I don’t think it’s my personal stage,” he said. “I think I owe it to myself to give me a day where it’s my day and it’s all about me, and I can go out and be comfortable in my surroundings and my area and perform.”

He said he fretted about sitting out last season “for about 20 minutes” and then moved on. Likewise, his former team moved on, collecting a second consecutive national championship.

“When I didn’t know if I was going to get back in school or not

For the past five months, Williams has been working out in Atlanta with Chip Smith, who has devised workouts for such NFL players as Champ Bailey, Brian Urlacher, Antwaan Randle El and Garrison Hearst.

Smith said Williams is among the most competitive athletes he has ever known and has made dozens of spectacular catches in their workout sessions. One of them came against an accomplished college cornerback who played in the Senior Bowl.

“The pass was underthrown,” Smith said, “and Mike reaches back with one hand, tips the ball over the DB, and catches it with his opposite hand.”

Georgia quarterback David Greene, another draft prospect and fellow Smith client, frequently threw to Williams during the last few months.

“Mike, he’s about as gifted as anybody I’ve ever seen -- size, speed, strength and hands,” Greene said, adding later, “He caught a few balls that he wasn’t supposed to catch.”

It wasn’t uncommon for Smith to use a throwing machine to fire 500 footballs a day to Williams, who worked out five days a week, six hours a day. For inspiration, Smith taped to his office door the measurable statistics -- such as 40-yard-dash time, vertical leap, broad jump -- of Larry Fitzgerald, the first receiver selected in last year’s draft.

“Those were the goals Mike set,” Smith said. “That was his measuring stick.” And Smith said Williams surpassed them.

Williams said he has fluctuated between 225 and 230 pounds lately, which is 10 pounds heavier than he was last fall but significantly lighter than he was rumored to be last summer. Even in his bulky gray sweatshirt Friday, Williams looked lean and muscular. He said he’s faster than ever too. He said his 40 time will be “way below” a respectable 4.5 seconds when he works out for scouts next month.

“I’m willing to bet the farm it will be a legit under 4.45,” he said.

If that’s the case, it will be worth the farm. And then some.

“The modern NFL puts an unbelievably disproportionate premium at wide receiver on speed,” said agent Leigh Steinberg, who does not represent Williams. “A 40 can make or break a draft pick and cause that pick to skyrocket or plummet in draft position and lose or gain millions of dollars.”

Among Williams’ former USC teammates invited to the combine were defensive end Shaun Cody, tight end Alex Holmes, nose tackle Mike Patterson and linebackers Matt Grootegoed and Lofa Tatupu. UCLA players invited were safety Ben Emanuel, fullback Manuel White and receivers Craig Bragg and Tab Perry.

It would be difficult to find a player more passionate than Williams about beginning the next stage of his career.

“I’ve had a long time to go over the situation,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming to be in front of you people, and to take my shirt off in front of the scouts and interview with these coaches and these GMs and things. It really is a blessing just to be up here.”