By Joe Platania, PressBox Staff
 
Outside, a capacity crowd roared as the Ravens clinched a return to the NFL's postseason party.

Inside, a calm, poignant scene took place.

Away from the cameras, the coaches and the cacophony of the day, two generations of Ravens met in the M&T Bank Stadium tunnel, arms around each other.

Seventeen-year kicker Matt Stover was congratulating rookie wideout Demetrius Williams on making the playoffs in his first season in the league.

The gesture wasn't lost on Williams, who contributed to the Week 15 playoff berth-clinching 27-17 win over Cleveland by catching two balls for 100 yards, including a game-turning 77-yard catch-and-run score that broke a tie and put Baltimore ahead for good.

"That's a big part of it for me," the soft-spoken Williams said. "This team has just been so welcoming to rookies and they definitely have been people we can look up to and pattern our game after."

If nothing else, it was a scene that showed how winning never gets old.

After all, Stover has two Super Bowl rings, one with the 2000 Ravens and another the New York Giants earned for him (Super Bowl XXV over Buffalo) while he sat on injured reserve.

The 6-foot-2, 197-pound Williams has been a winner as well, having played for the legendary De La Salle High School program in Concord, California, outside San Francisco.

Coached by Bob Ladoceur, De La Salle once went 10 years without losing a single game, winning four national championships in the process. The program that has turned out Williams, Giants receiver Amani Toomer and several other NFL stars is poised to win it all again this year.

Williams moved on to Oregon, alma mater of former Ravens wideout Patrick Johnson, where he was a teammate of current Ravens rookie defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, the first to embrace him after his big play Sunday.

"He's always like that, he greeted me the same way in college," Williams said of Ngata. "It's a special feeling having him here on the team and it made me feel a lot more comfortable."

On draft day last spring, the Ravens weren't so comfortable as they saw Williams  stay on the board through the second round -- where they thought the speedster would be drafted -- as well as the third and part of the fourth.

General manager Ozzie Newsome eventually grabbed Williams with the 111th overall pick, having seen him on film while scouting someone else. That's when Newsome noticed how well he stretched the field.

Indeed, in his senior year at Oregon, Williams' 59 catches included 39 that went for first downs. His 10 touchdowns tied a single-season school record set by several players, including Bobby Moore, who eventually changed his name to Ahmad Rashad.

"We said, 'Who is that guy?' " Newsome said. "He struggled a little bit as a junior, but bounced back as a senior and had a very productive year. It's going to be very hard to keep him off the field this year."

Newsome's words were prescient.

Williams has played in every game this year and -- along with fullback Ovie Mughelli, tight end Daniel Wilcox and running back Musa Smith (before his season-ending injury) -- has slowly become yet another option in the revived Ravens' passing game. 

The season didn't start that way for the lanky speedster as he caught just three passes in the first five weeks. 

"It's starting to pick up a little bit for me," Williams said. "I'm getting a little more comfortable in the games and having guys like [Derrick] Mason and Mark Clayton -- guys you can count on -- just makes it a lot easier for me."

The Tennessee game changed everything.

Williams hauled in four passes for 75 yards that day, the last of them being a 34-yard sideline route in which he slipped past two defenders and hauled in a catch that helped set up the game-winning score.

Williams' big play against Cleveland resembled the catch against the Titans. 

Even though Browns' safety Sean Jones came over to help beaten cornerback Daven Holly, neither had a chance as Williams read a route to the post, ran it perfectly, gathered in Kyle Boller's throw at the Browns' 20 and outraced the pair to the end zone, diving to the pylon for good measure.

"It was a simple read play," Williams said. "I made a read to go through the middle of the field and Kyle just made a great throw. He couldn't have put the ball anywhere else, so I had an obligation to catch the ball."

All told, Williams' 18 catches have him tied with Wilcox for fifth on the team with two regular-season games remaining. 

On top of that, 14 of the catches have gone for first downs, putting him fourth on the team behind wideouts Mason and Clayton and tight end Todd Heap.

"Big plays," coach Brian Billick said. "Every time he gets an opportunity, that young man makes 'em. He makes a big play. You can't ask more of a rookie."

But the game-changer against Cleveland wasn't just another big play. It was Williams' first NFL touchdown.

"I'm going to take it [the ball] home and put it up [in a place of prominence]. It's my first one. I had one in preseason, but it doesn't count."

Stover -- and the rest of the Ravens -- certainly admire any player who knows what counts.

Issue 1.36: December 28, 2006