It's been a while since Mike Williams and Maurice Clarett played football, but that wasn't enough to stop a pair of NFL teams from drafting them - and draft them high.

Williams, a wide receiver from the University of Southern California, was taken with the 10th overall pick by the Detroit Lions Saturday in the opening day of the NFL Draft.

Clarett, a freshman at Ohio State in 2002, was taken with the final pick of the third round (101st overall) by the Denver Broncos.

In the final season these two played, both were bona fide top three picks.

Williams was coming off a 95-catch, 1,314-yard season in 2003 and helped the Trojans win the first of their consecutive national championships.

Clarett led Ohio State to a national championship the last time he played (January 2003) as the Buckeyes upset the University of Miami.

In the fall of 2002, Clarett rumbled onto the national scene as a freshman for the Buckeyes and was among the best running backs in the country.

One problem: He was still a freshman.

Wanting to capitalize on his stature - and not wanting to waste his time in college - he decided to take his chances in the NFL, which requires athletes to be three years removed from their high school graduating class before being allowed to enter the league's draft.

Clarett decided to league's rule by taking the league to court.

He had a lot of support. It was reasoned that anyone in college is allowed to leave to take a job, so why not a football player?

As it turned out, one court ruled in his favor, but a higher court overturned that ruling. Two appeals followed but neither went Clarett's way.

The 2003 NFL draft had come and gone and Clarett started to look toward the following year. But having not played for quite some time, how was that going to affect him?

As for Williams, he wrapped up his sophomore year and decided to try to enter the 2004 NFL draft, since Clarett's legal fight was still going through the court system.

Williams became a victim because once the decision against Clarett became final, the NFL wouldn't allow Williams to drop his name from consideration. Worse yet, it wouldn't allow him to return to play for USC, so he was left in limbo, although he did return to school and take classes.

He kept himself in shape, was able to continue impressing scouts and was taken a top 10 pick in this year's draft.

In leading up to the draft, Clarett had horrible times in the 40-yard dash, a bad attitude and even quit during one showcase.

Still, Denver took a high flyer on him because his times did improve and Clarett's potential could be through the roof, although the Broncos' running game has been very successful the past 10 years.

Last weekend, two players linked together a year ago have now realized their lifelong dream. Time will determine if they'll succeed. Then again, time is all they've had.