Surprising Drop for Hokies' Williams

"It was like, 'I'll get drafted somewhere between four and 12, then we'll party,' " said Virginia Tech cornerback Jimmy Williams. He ended up spending most of the draft day afternoon locked in the bathroom. (Preston Keres - The Post)

Jimmy Williams planned the biggest party of his life for yesterday afternoon. The Virginia Tech cornerback rented out almost a full floor of the Embassy Suites in Hampton, Va., and invited 75 friends and family members to watch him get selected in the NFL draft. They would gather around the television for 12 picks at the most, Williams thought. Then they would eat and celebrate.

"It was like, 'I'll get drafted somewhere between four and 12, then we'll party,' " Williams said.

Instead, Williams spent much of Saturday afternoon locked in a hotel bathroom with his father, praying and questioning his past behavior. Then he left the hotel and took an hour-long drive, abandoning the party he had helped plan.

By the time the Falcons finally drafted Williams with the fifth pick of the second round -- 25 picks later than Williams's worse-case scenario -- it registered as nothing more than consolation. The day already had been defined by disappointment, Williams said. Projected before the NFL Combine to be the first defensive back picked, Williams listened as six defensive backs went before him. He blamed his fall on questions about his character -- questions he dismissed as unfounded.

"This whole day, man, I was beating myself up about it, thinking maybe I did something wrong," Williams said from the hotel by cellphone. "But whatever perception got put out there, there's nothing I can do about it. Now I just know that I've got something to prove."

Few talent evaluators had questioned Willams's playing ability. During his last two seasons at Virginia Tech, he amassed 104 tackles, 19 pass break-ups and 6 interceptions. He started for three seasons, first at free safety and then as a cornerback. At 6 feet 3, he packages a tantalizing combination of size and speed: a 206-pounder who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds.

But Williams's behavior raised doubts. His tendency toward smugness caused Tech Coach Frank Beamer to ban him from speaking to the media for the 2004 season. He was ejected in the second quarter of last season's Gator Bowl after he bumped an official.

"I told him in the bathroom, 'Sometimes maybe you need to shut up and just do what you do,' " said James Williams, Jimmy's father. "Some people just don't like arrogance. Maybe we have to change our life a little bit and just play football."

Williams said he looked forward to playing in Atlanta, largely because he will reunite with former Virginia Tech defensive back DeAngelo Hall. When Williams visited Virginia Tech as a prospective student, Hall hosted him. They became close friends, and Williams traveled to Atlanta to visit Hall in December.

"My boy is there, man, and that gets me excited," Williams said. "I couldn't be more excited about Atlanta. I'm not complaining about the result, man. I just can't believe it took so long."

Jackson Is a Brown

---

Maryland linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said his draft day actually ended a little bit earlier than he anticipated when the Cleveland Browns made him the second pick of the second round. But despite the early call, Jackson still endured a bit of suspense.

After making 137 tackles and earning ACC defensive player of the year as a senior, Jackson had expected to go sometime in the middle of the second round. Considered slightly undersized for a linebacker at about 220 pounds, Jackson was slightly surprised when the Browns called him the end of the first round -- only to leave Jackson on hold for about 10 minutes.

While Jackson waited on the phone, the Browns traded center Jeff Faine and the 43rd pick to the Saints so they could draft Jackson.

"They called and said they were trying to make things happen, so I should stay on the phone," Jackson said. "I told all my family to quiet down so I could hear. I just kept waiting, and waiting. It felt like forever. Finally they came on and said, 'Congratulations. You're a Cleveland Brown.' "