It is official: Brandon Williams is a Baltimore Raven.  Becoming the highest drafted player out of Missouri Southern, at number 94 in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft, he’s going to the defending Super Bowl Champions.

His selection came as no surprise as multiple mock drafts had him positioned to go in the late third round area surpassing the former Southern record of Allen Barbre who was taken in the fourth round by the Green Bay Packers.

Following a college career that saw Williams rack up awards in the Division II ranks including three first-team All-MIAA selections and MIAA Defensive Player of the Year, along with a staggering 27 sacks during his tenor to break the school record, it is safe to say he left an impression.

“He dominated the small-school level. There is no doubt about that,” Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta said.

Williams now looks to begin the next chapter of his life as he will report to Baltimore on Sunday to meet with Ravens personnel and begin the process of getting NFL ready.  

It’s a lofty task, but it’s something that the organization feels that he is more than capable of after seeing him at the Senior Bowl earlier this off-season.

“The biggest thing is that he went to the Senior Bowl and really played well,” DeCosta said. “He had a really strong week of practice against Division I players, and he looked like a legitimate 3-4 nose tackle.”

In a presentation made for Williams draft banquet, he and others that have impacted his life and journey to the NFL discussed the life of a man who has never taken no for an answer.  With obstacles throughout his time in the game he loves, Williams looks to his family as the ones that put him on the path to where he is now.

“My mom was definitely the rock and the glue that held us together,” Williams said. “My mom was a huge support. She was at every game faithfully and the loudest one out there.  I’m playing for my mom. I’m playing so one day I can do the same things she did for me.”

A mother that has been there through the ups and downs now has the honor of watching her son play at the highest level. Williams and the ones around him look forward to what life is in the NFL.