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Tulane's Jeremy Williams, Andre Anderson seize moment at Pro Day
By James Varney, The Times-Picayune
March 19, 2010, 9:36PM
http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/03/tulanes_jeremy_williams_andre.html
On a sunsplashed Friday, roughly 15 years of hard work came down to fractions of seconds for a handful of athletes at Tulane's Pro Day.
Tulane running back Andre Anderson works out for NFL scouts at the school's Pro Day on Friday.
Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneTulane running back Andre Anderson works out for NFL scouts at the school's Pro Day on Friday.Most eyes were on Green Wave receiver Jeremy Williams and tailback Andre Anderson, particularly when they ran the 40-yard dash, that sub-5-second moment in which a young athlete's future is often compressed. Anderson wasn't invited to the NFL combine and thus had to seize the moment.
"It's what we train for, you've trained your whole life and you get one shot to do it, " Anderson said. "This is my chance to show what I can do, and I think I did all right for myself today. Hopefully we'll go from here and get some private workouts and pray for everything to be all right."
Williams is in a considerably less-precarious position than his teammate when it comes to next month's NFL draft. For one thing, he was invited to the combine in Indianapolis. For another, he was also invited to January's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where he emerged as the South team's MVP.
For Williams, then, the question isn't so much whether his name will be called in April as when. His family said that pivotal moment was likely to pass unobserved.
"We're going to be at my home, but we're not going to watch it, " Williams' grandmother, Ella Jones, said. "He doesn't want to watch it, so we're going to sit at home and play cards."
Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneAt Tulane's pro day Friday, receiver Jeremy Williams reportedly clocked a 4.4-second 40."And eat crawfish, " his mother, Eleanor Chambers, added emphatically.
Williams denied he was apprehensive.
"I joked about that with my parents and some people, but I'll definitely watch it, " he laughed. "I'll probably go out and just play some cards with my family, but I'll be watching."
The 40-yard dash has assumed a central place with NFL prospects, especially at the skill positions
"I went to the combine, and I didn't run the 40 I wanted, " Williams said. "So I came back and I trained on basically all 40 and running my routes and things like that, and I came out here and ran a much better time, so I was happy with it."
At Indianapolis, Williams turned in a 4.59 40, blazing fast for nearly any profession other than professional wide receiver. At Tulane, Williams shaved that time even more, clocking in at 4.4, according to several people familiar with the records.
Tulane did not allow reporters on the field and did not post the results of its athletes on its Web page.
Anderson, meanwhile, reportedly had a 40 time somewhere around 4.6, but he excelled at other drills. He did 17 reps on the 225-pound bench press, and his explosiveness as measured by vertical leap (39 inches) and broad jump (10 feet, 3 inches) were impressive.
"Not what I expected in the 40, but I also wanted to come out here and show my hands in the catching drills and the positional drills, and I think I did all right for myself, " Anderson said. "I wanted to show I'm not just a power back -- I can run, I can catch, I can do it all. I'm ready to get to the league and contribute any way I can."
Those contributions have been underlined by several Tulane offensive players, most notably and recently by Chicago Bears tailback Matt Forte. The elements of a pro-style offense Coach Bob Toledo has used at Tulane help also, according to Williams, who said the plays he ran with NFL coaches at the Senior Bowl were familiar.
"I think what we're doing is good for them and their pro future, " Toledo said. "So many people are in just the Shotgun and the Spread offense and running the Spread Option and that type of thing."
In addition, Tulane used Williams in a variety of positions and on kick returns, so his versatility could make him a more appealing draft candidate.
Based on his interviews at the NFL combine, it appears the Ravens, Texans and Bills are the teams with the most interest in Williams right now. And once that interest is piqued, the teams tend to zero in on broader issues than those taped and timed and noted at a Pro Day, a facet Williams said was driven home when he walked into a room in Indianapolis and was confronted by a phalanx of Ravens officials.
"I met with the Ravens and they had like the whole organization there, and they asked me a bunch of tough questions just to see how I would react to it, " he said. "They went back to freshman year, back to high school. The whole thing was just an intense character test."
By James Varney, The Times-Picayune
March 19, 2010, 9:36PM
http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/03/tulanes_jeremy_williams_andre.html
On a sunsplashed Friday, roughly 15 years of hard work came down to fractions of seconds for a handful of athletes at Tulane's Pro Day.
Tulane running back Andre Anderson works out for NFL scouts at the school's Pro Day on Friday.
Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneTulane running back Andre Anderson works out for NFL scouts at the school's Pro Day on Friday.Most eyes were on Green Wave receiver Jeremy Williams and tailback Andre Anderson, particularly when they ran the 40-yard dash, that sub-5-second moment in which a young athlete's future is often compressed. Anderson wasn't invited to the NFL combine and thus had to seize the moment.
"It's what we train for, you've trained your whole life and you get one shot to do it, " Anderson said. "This is my chance to show what I can do, and I think I did all right for myself today. Hopefully we'll go from here and get some private workouts and pray for everything to be all right."
Williams is in a considerably less-precarious position than his teammate when it comes to next month's NFL draft. For one thing, he was invited to the combine in Indianapolis. For another, he was also invited to January's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where he emerged as the South team's MVP.
For Williams, then, the question isn't so much whether his name will be called in April as when. His family said that pivotal moment was likely to pass unobserved.
"We're going to be at my home, but we're not going to watch it, " Williams' grandmother, Ella Jones, said. "He doesn't want to watch it, so we're going to sit at home and play cards."
Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneAt Tulane's pro day Friday, receiver Jeremy Williams reportedly clocked a 4.4-second 40."And eat crawfish, " his mother, Eleanor Chambers, added emphatically.
Williams denied he was apprehensive.
"I joked about that with my parents and some people, but I'll definitely watch it, " he laughed. "I'll probably go out and just play some cards with my family, but I'll be watching."
The 40-yard dash has assumed a central place with NFL prospects, especially at the skill positions
"I went to the combine, and I didn't run the 40 I wanted, " Williams said. "So I came back and I trained on basically all 40 and running my routes and things like that, and I came out here and ran a much better time, so I was happy with it."
At Indianapolis, Williams turned in a 4.59 40, blazing fast for nearly any profession other than professional wide receiver. At Tulane, Williams shaved that time even more, clocking in at 4.4, according to several people familiar with the records.
Tulane did not allow reporters on the field and did not post the results of its athletes on its Web page.
Anderson, meanwhile, reportedly had a 40 time somewhere around 4.6, but he excelled at other drills. He did 17 reps on the 225-pound bench press, and his explosiveness as measured by vertical leap (39 inches) and broad jump (10 feet, 3 inches) were impressive.
"Not what I expected in the 40, but I also wanted to come out here and show my hands in the catching drills and the positional drills, and I think I did all right for myself, " Anderson said. "I wanted to show I'm not just a power back -- I can run, I can catch, I can do it all. I'm ready to get to the league and contribute any way I can."
Those contributions have been underlined by several Tulane offensive players, most notably and recently by Chicago Bears tailback Matt Forte. The elements of a pro-style offense Coach Bob Toledo has used at Tulane help also, according to Williams, who said the plays he ran with NFL coaches at the Senior Bowl were familiar.
"I think what we're doing is good for them and their pro future, " Toledo said. "So many people are in just the Shotgun and the Spread offense and running the Spread Option and that type of thing."
In addition, Tulane used Williams in a variety of positions and on kick returns, so his versatility could make him a more appealing draft candidate.
Based on his interviews at the NFL combine, it appears the Ravens, Texans and Bills are the teams with the most interest in Williams right now. And once that interest is piqued, the teams tend to zero in on broader issues than those taped and timed and noted at a Pro Day, a facet Williams said was driven home when he walked into a room in Indianapolis and was confronted by a phalanx of Ravens officials.
"I met with the Ravens and they had like the whole organization there, and they asked me a bunch of tough questions just to see how I would react to it, " he said. "They went back to freshman year, back to high school. The whole thing was just an intense character test."
