WILLIAMS JOINS LIONS' CROWDED RECEIVING CORPS HE'S ONE OF FOUR TROJANS DRAFTED.

Byline: Scott Wolf  Staff Writer

Mike Williams and Shaun Cody fell a few slots but Mike Patterson and Lofa Tatupu did better-than-expected as four USC players were selected in the first 45 picks Saturday, the first time four Trojans went in the top two rounds since 1980.

A year after he wanted to get drafted, Williams was finally selected with the 10th pick by the Detroit Lions. Many mock drafts assumed Minnesota would take the receiver with the seventh pick, but the Vikings chose receiver Troy Williamson of South Carolina.

``It got shaky, I was sweating, nervous,'' Williams said. ``Then I got the call and all I could think about was everything I went through in the last year. And I hugged my parents and my grandma and started celebrating.''

Williams sat out last season after courts reversed an original decision that allowed tailback Maurice Clarett to apply for the draft and forced college players to be at least three years out of high school.

``Finally,'' Williams said. ``It's back to football now.

``Being a top-10 pick after not playing for a year is a blessing. That's something that no one thought would happen. I could care less about what teams didn't draft me. What's important is the team that did draft me.''

The Lions were not expected to select Williams, since they chose receiver Roy Williams with the seventh pick last season and Charles Rogers with their first-round pick two years ago.

Ironically, Mike Williams and Roy Williams were considered rivals going into last season's draft.

``I'm just excited to be a part of that receiving group,'' Mike Williams said. ``They have some big guys that can stretch the field and do their thing. I'm just excited to go up there and identify what I can bring to this offense.''

Williams was the third receiver taken in the draft behind Michigan's Braylon Edwards and Williamson. But the fact he became a top-10 selection demonstrated teams weren't completely put off by the fact he was ineligible his junior season after the NCAA refused to reinstate him.

Lions coach Steve Mariucci said Williams' versatility made him attractive because he could line up inside or outside at the line of scrimmage.

``The thing about him is that he can do both,'' Mariucci said. ``He loves playing inside because he's big and physical, and he doesn't mind releasing off linebackers and working in holes and taking a hit. But he's good enough to play outside as well.''

Williams will be joined in Detroit by defensive tackle Shaun Cody, whom the Lions took in the second round with the 37th pick.

``I'm a Detroit Lion and it feels great,'' Cody said.

Cody slipped in recent weeks after originally being projected as a first- round pick. But he also shrewdly signed a deal for a reality TV show on Spike TV about his selection of an agent that paid him $250,000 and a Cadillac Escalade.

Conversely, defensive tackle Mike Patterson increased his stock after an impressive workout at USC last month and became a first-round pick (No. 31 overall) of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Patterson's size (5-foot-11, 292 pounds) didn't turn off teams because of his quickness and athleticism. Although he was an All-American last season, Patterson often played in Cody's shadow, but it didn't affect the NFL's view of him.

``I feel I can go out and do a lot,'' Patterson said.

If there was a surprise Saturday, it was Tatupu, who was chosen with the 45th pick by the Seattle Seahawks after originally being projected as a fourth-round selection.

Tatupu, the Trojans' only underclassman to leave early after last year's perfect season, proved his decision to bypass his senior season wasn't a mistake.

Although small by NFL standards for a middle linebacker (5-11, 226), Tatupu's workouts also increased his stock as the draft approached.

Tatupu led the Trojans with 104 tackles along with six sacks, three forced fumbles, three interceptions and eight deflected passes.

It's the first time four USC players were chosen in the first two rounds since offensive linemen Anthony Munoz and Brad Budde and tailback Charles White were picked in the first round and linebacker Larry McGrew was selected in the second round in the 1980 draft.

Several other Trojans hope to be chosen in today's second phase of the draft, including tight ends Alex Holmes (Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood) and Gregg Guenther (Taft of Woodland Hills).

--McKay's widow dead: Nancy Jean McKay, the 73-year-old widow of former USC and Tampa Bay Buccaneers football coach John McKay, died Saturday of cancer.

McKay, who went by the nickname of Corky, is survived by two sons, Rich and John ``J.K.'' Jr., and two daughters, Michelle and Teri. Rich McKay, the president and general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, is expected to remain with the team through the end of the NFL Draft today.

John McKay, who was 77 when he died in June 2001, led USC to four national championships before becoming the first coach of the Buccaneers. McKay retired after the 1984 season.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

photo, 4 boxes

Photo:

Mike Williams hugs his mother, Kathy McCurdy, Saturday in Tampa, Fla., after being selected in the first round by the Detroit Lions in the NFL Draft.

Jason Behnken/Associated Press

Box:

(1) FIRST-ROUND RECAP

(2) SECOND ROUND

(3) THIRD ROUND

By Billy Witz

(4) WIDE-EYED