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By Mark Inabinett
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/03/aeneas_williams_caught_all-pro.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013 ... l-pro.html</a>
[wrapimg=left]http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/aeneas-williams-actionjpg-53c5c500b1ef643b.jpg[/wrapimg]POINT CLEAR, Alabama - Aeneas Williams might wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame because he learned to remember to forget at the Senior Bowl in Mobile.
Williams had intercepted 11 passes in his senior season as a Southern cornerback when he came to the Port City's 1991 all-star game to play for the AFC squad coached by Marty Schottenheimer's Kansas City Chiefs staff.
"Some of the practices, guys were catching balls on me and some scored touchdowns on me," Williams said, "and coach Schottenheimer's words stayed with me my entire career. He came up to me and said, 'Son, if you're going to play cornerback in the National Football League, you're going to have to develop amnesia.'
"I remember taking that - that no matter what happened during the course of a game, the ability to erase the prior play and be in the current play as if it was a brand new play - and it really helped me throughout my career."
Williams went on to a 14-year NFL career with the Cardinals and the Rams. He was a member of the NFL's All-Decade team for the 1990s and made eight Pro Bowls. Williams finished his NFL career with 55 interceptions, 23 fumble recoveries and an NFL-record 1,075 defensive-return yards (807 on interceptions and 268 on fumbles). He scored 12 touchdowns on defense - nine on interception returns and three on fumble returns.
Williams was a finalist for selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in each of the past two years.
Williams was at the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort on Saturday night for induction into another hall of fame - the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame. He joined John Abraham of South Carolina and Sylvester Croom of Alabama in the SBHOF's Class of 2013.
"I remember being here like it was yesterday," Williams said before the induction dinner. "I feel like I just arrived here on the bus with some of my teammates from all over the country. And now to be inducted with Sylvester Croom and John Abraham and the hundred and some-odd guys from the almost 5,000 that played in this game is truly humbling. I just thank God.
"Walking on at Southern University a week before the season starts my junior year in college and having this type of honor is truly amazing."
Although Williams played only two years of college football at an NCAA Division I-AA school, he didn't doubt he could play with the other Senior Bowlers.
"I'm from New Orleans," he said. "Every summer, we'd go back and we'd train at Tulane. I was going against pro receivers, working out with professional defensive backs, some of the best guys at some of the major universities who were from New Orleans -- we would all train together. And this ol' lanky quarterback that was still in high school who was throwing the one-on-ones who was Peyton Manning.
"That's when I kind of started believing that I could play at the pro level. The process of the Senior Bowl and things like were continued confirmation that I would be able to compete."
But being confident didn't mean Williams didn't feel some jitters with the NFL's eyes on him. That's why he's thankful his Senior Bowl position coach from the Chiefs was someone else who might end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"I remember being nervous," Williams said. "But I also remember the calming effect of coach Tony Dungy, who was my defensive back coach. All I knew was after that game, I wanted to find a way to play for coach Tony Dungy. I just remember his words in helping my confidence in playing in that game."
Williams' AFC squad earned a 38-28 victory over the NFC team, which was led by Southern Miss quarterback Brett Favre, in the 1991 Senior Bowl. Tennessee wide receiver Alvin Harper was the game's MVP with two touchdown receptions.
Williams had to go against Harper during the Senior Bowl practices, then competed against him cornerback to wide receiver in the NFL.
"Alvin Harper had an outstanding Senior Bowl," Williams said. "Then to see him be that second threat with Michael Irvin on the Cowboys on their Super Bowl teams, I just really remember him.
"He was very talkative -- him and another guy I played against, Tim Barnett from Jackson State. And Ricky Watters. I just remember those guys constantly talking. I just remember all those talkers on the bus."
The Phoenix Cardinals picked Williams in the third round of the 1991 NFL Draft. Williams said when he left the Senior Bowl, he wasn't concerned about how he got the chance to play in the NFL, just that he continued to put his best foot forward in getting that chance.
"It was a part of the process," Williams said of the Senior Bowl. "I had to decide if I was going to play in both the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl. I got wisdom to just play in just the Senior Bowl. The next thing was the combine, then the pro day. But I was only thinking about the process and not so much the end results.
"I sound like Nick Saban: Just thinking about the process."
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/03/aeneas_williams_caught_all-pro.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013 ... l-pro.html</a>
[wrapimg=left]http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/aeneas-williams-actionjpg-53c5c500b1ef643b.jpg[/wrapimg]POINT CLEAR, Alabama - Aeneas Williams might wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame because he learned to remember to forget at the Senior Bowl in Mobile.
Williams had intercepted 11 passes in his senior season as a Southern cornerback when he came to the Port City's 1991 all-star game to play for the AFC squad coached by Marty Schottenheimer's Kansas City Chiefs staff.
"Some of the practices, guys were catching balls on me and some scored touchdowns on me," Williams said, "and coach Schottenheimer's words stayed with me my entire career. He came up to me and said, 'Son, if you're going to play cornerback in the National Football League, you're going to have to develop amnesia.'
"I remember taking that - that no matter what happened during the course of a game, the ability to erase the prior play and be in the current play as if it was a brand new play - and it really helped me throughout my career."
Williams went on to a 14-year NFL career with the Cardinals and the Rams. He was a member of the NFL's All-Decade team for the 1990s and made eight Pro Bowls. Williams finished his NFL career with 55 interceptions, 23 fumble recoveries and an NFL-record 1,075 defensive-return yards (807 on interceptions and 268 on fumbles). He scored 12 touchdowns on defense - nine on interception returns and three on fumble returns.
Williams was a finalist for selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in each of the past two years.
Williams was at the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort on Saturday night for induction into another hall of fame - the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame. He joined John Abraham of South Carolina and Sylvester Croom of Alabama in the SBHOF's Class of 2013.
"I remember being here like it was yesterday," Williams said before the induction dinner. "I feel like I just arrived here on the bus with some of my teammates from all over the country. And now to be inducted with Sylvester Croom and John Abraham and the hundred and some-odd guys from the almost 5,000 that played in this game is truly humbling. I just thank God.
"Walking on at Southern University a week before the season starts my junior year in college and having this type of honor is truly amazing."
Although Williams played only two years of college football at an NCAA Division I-AA school, he didn't doubt he could play with the other Senior Bowlers.
"I'm from New Orleans," he said. "Every summer, we'd go back and we'd train at Tulane. I was going against pro receivers, working out with professional defensive backs, some of the best guys at some of the major universities who were from New Orleans -- we would all train together. And this ol' lanky quarterback that was still in high school who was throwing the one-on-ones who was Peyton Manning.
"That's when I kind of started believing that I could play at the pro level. The process of the Senior Bowl and things like were continued confirmation that I would be able to compete."
But being confident didn't mean Williams didn't feel some jitters with the NFL's eyes on him. That's why he's thankful his Senior Bowl position coach from the Chiefs was someone else who might end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"I remember being nervous," Williams said. "But I also remember the calming effect of coach Tony Dungy, who was my defensive back coach. All I knew was after that game, I wanted to find a way to play for coach Tony Dungy. I just remember his words in helping my confidence in playing in that game."
Williams' AFC squad earned a 38-28 victory over the NFC team, which was led by Southern Miss quarterback Brett Favre, in the 1991 Senior Bowl. Tennessee wide receiver Alvin Harper was the game's MVP with two touchdown receptions.
Williams had to go against Harper during the Senior Bowl practices, then competed against him cornerback to wide receiver in the NFL.
"Alvin Harper had an outstanding Senior Bowl," Williams said. "Then to see him be that second threat with Michael Irvin on the Cowboys on their Super Bowl teams, I just really remember him.
"He was very talkative -- him and another guy I played against, Tim Barnett from Jackson State. And Ricky Watters. I just remember those guys constantly talking. I just remember all those talkers on the bus."
The Phoenix Cardinals picked Williams in the third round of the 1991 NFL Draft. Williams said when he left the Senior Bowl, he wasn't concerned about how he got the chance to play in the NFL, just that he continued to put his best foot forward in getting that chance.
"It was a part of the process," Williams said of the Senior Bowl. "I had to decide if I was going to play in both the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl. I got wisdom to just play in just the Senior Bowl. The next thing was the combine, then the pro day. But I was only thinking about the process and not so much the end results.
"I sound like Nick Saban: Just thinking about the process."