BACKSTAGE TO HIGH BILLING.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

TAMPA, Fla. - He arrived in New York amid much fanfare, another performer lured by the promise that the bright lights of the big city would burn for him. Was he not armed with glowing reviews from gigs at Encino's Crespi High and UCLA?

Yes, Shaun Williams was going to be a star in Jim Fassel's off-Broadway production, he was certain of that.

But when the curtain rose on his NFL career, Williams was backstage, looking on vacantly as somebody else delivered his lines. Williams squirmed in his subordinate role, which fit him like a corset. For two years that stretched like 20, Williams was the New York Giants' understudy free safety.

``Last year was a really hard year for me,'' the third-year defensive back said the other day. ``I saw a lot of guys who were drafted behind me playing and I wasn't. That was really frustrating for me.''

It takes skill and finesse to suppress one's ambition for long stretches, to keep a sunny disposition while standing in the shadows. Williams, 24, sweated out his frustrations in the weight room and on the practice field. His work ethic reflected his mantra: ``Every day you either get better or you get worse.''

Finally, this season Williams' patience was rewarded. He was handed a starting role and responded with 68 solo tackles and three interceptions during the regular season.

The part Williams will be playing Sunday on the NFL's grandest stage is definitely not for the demure.

The script calls for him to keep Baltimore tight end Shannon Sharpe from starring in Super Bowl XXXV. If you give him a piece of the stage, Sharpe is liable to steal the whole scene. He has been Baltimore's big-play provider throughout the playoffs.

``Shannon Sharpe is an outstanding receiver,'' Williams conceded. ``He makes the big play time and time again. That's a situation that's really kind of scary. I'm just going to go out and play the best I can.''

Williams has the wheels to cut off Sharpe. He proved as much late in his rookie season, in a game against Denver, when he held Sharpe to four catches and intercepted a pass intended for the perennial All-Pro.

The former Bruin also can hit like Ted Williams, which surely will give Sharpe something to ponder Sunday as he streaks across the middle. The Ravens would do well to hide from Sharpe the tape of the Giants' game against Jacksonville in December in which Williams sent Jimmy Smith straight to the sidelines with a hit.

``He's a wrecking ball,'' Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn said admiringly of Williams.

``When I get the opportunity,'' Williams said, ``I like to bang people.''

Williams has a softer side. He recently started his own record label, Royalty Records, in part to champion the hip-hop careers of two childhood friends from Carson who have the same passion for music that Williams has for football.

If they produce near the number of memorable hits as Williams has this year alone, everybody will know their names.

``They're always writing lyrics,'' Williams said of his friends, whom he met playing Pop Warner football. ``They bring to their music the same type of focus I do to football.''

Williams is the kind of performer who is so meticulous, he memorizes not only his own lines but everybody else's. When defensive coordinator John Fox throws quizzes at the secondary, Williams typically is the first to blurt out the answers.

``Our defense isn't an easy one to learn,'' Sehorn said. ``When you have it down like Shaun does, it really helps put you in a position to make plays.''

So Williams studies more now than he did as a student at UCLA or at Crespi. What did you think he'd do, play the role of the prima donna once he became a regular performer?

``I try to work on my game as much as possible, whether it be watching film, working out, on the field or off the field,'' he said. ``It's a situation where I waited a long time to be a starter on this team. I'm trying to do the best I can out there and improve every week.''

Williams is 6-foot-2. He and fellow safety Sam Garnes (6-3) and cornerbacks Sehorn (6-2) and Dave Thomas (6-3) form a Manhattan skyline of a secondary.

From where Williams stands, the view is awesome. He can see so clearly now how center stage was well worth the wait.

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Photo: (color) SHAUN WILLIAMS

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