Ex-Husker works hard to get chance in NFL

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BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE

Demorrio Williams understands someday the games will end and he'll have to find slower-paced work.

For now, however, Williams wants to keep playing football, preferably as an outside linebacker in the NFL.

"It means everything to me," the Nebraska senior said Thursday. "I know football has an ending point, but I don't think right now is my ending point."

Williams will get a chance to make an impression on NFL coaches and front-office personnel this weekend when he attends the NFL Scouting Combine, which began a seven-day run in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

About 300 players, including seven Husker seniors, face a battery of physical and mental tests, with officials from all 32 NFL teams on hand.

"My mind-set is to do what I can do, and that means compete at the highest level,"said Williams, Nebraska's second-leading tackler in 2003 with 128 tackles, including a school-record 83 solo stops.

Bo Pelini, Nebraska's defensive coordinator this past season, said Thursday that he has no doubt Williams is talented enough to play linebacker in the NFL.

Pelini, now the co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma, spent six seasons in the NFL coaching linebackers before being hired at Nebraska in January of 2003.

"Demorrio has excellent burst and acceleration, and he's an excellent tackler in space,"Pelini said. "He's a playmaker. He finds the ball."

The 6-foot-1 Williams played at 215 pounds this past season. But he played at 229 pounds in the Senior Bowl last month and has settled in at 225, he said.

Williams has been working out at a training facility in New Jersey with players from Penn State, Alabama and South Carolina.

"The weight will help him,"Pelini said. "And he'll help himself by showing he can perform at a bigger size. Iencouraged him to gain the weight, but I told him not to put on bad weight."

Said Williams, "If you're going to play at the next level, you've got to do what you've got to do. Playing in college and playing in the NFL are two different things."

Williams helped boost his NFLstock with a team-leading eight tackles in the Senior Bowl. He'll be joined in Indianapolis by six other Nebraska seniors:defensive tackle Ryon Bingham, running back Josh Davis, outside linebacker T.J. Hollowell, defensive end Trevor Johnson, punter Kyle Larson and center Josh Sewell.

In addition, former Nebraska head coach Frank Solich is attending the combine along with ex-Husker assistant Jeff Jamrog.