Green Bay Green Bay Packers cornerback Tramon Williams was talking about his playmaking skills and how much of his speed and jumping ability was a gift.

"You're just born with some of it," safety Nick Collins said.

"I guess, that's part of it," said Williams. But he didn't look 100% convinced.

That's because Williams really identifies more with being a hard worker. And that's no gift.

That's a choice.

And he chooses - after a full day of practice, classroom work and weightlifting - to come home to his wife, Shantrell, a former standout basketball player, and their infant son. And he chooses, after spending time with them, not to zone out in front of the TV or play around on the computer, but to disappear into his home office, where he studies film for three hours, sometimes until 1 a.m.

"The time flies when I'm watching film," Williams said.

Williams had six regular-season interceptions and then three more in two playoff wins at Philadelphia and Atlanta.

He estimates half of them were the result of his raw talent or instinctive ability to make a play. The other half was the result of work.

"I've always put effort into studying," Williams said. "I study about three different ways. Each way you learn something different. That's what's been helping me out."

A lot of people want to know how this 27-year-old former walk-on, undrafted free agent and practice squad body came to dominate the 2011 playoffs - or, as one observer put it - an overnight sensation after only four years.

Here's how: Work.

Williams was a first-team all-district player at Assumption High School in Napoleonville, La. But, in an area known for its bayous and sugarcane, he worked odd jobs - like stocking shelves at the supermarket; shoveling coal and cleaning machines at the plant; and welding, cleaning tractors and planting the spring crop on his uncle's farm.

He even worked for a construction company that put up a building on the Louisiana State University campus.

He did not think football was his path to success, so he went on to Louisiana Tech to pursue an electrical engineering degree.

But that first semester at Louisiana Tech, he happened to attend a football game against Boise State.

"I watched the DBs and I was like, 'I could go out there, you know what I'm saying?' Williams said.

Williams tried out for the team the next spring as the only walk-on. Former Tech coach Jack Bicknell Jr. was walking by when he saw him take the vertical leap test (charted at 42.5 inches later at his Green Bay tryout).

"I just stopped dead in my tracks," Bicknell said in 2008. "I said, 'Let me see that one more time.' I just grabbed him and said, 'Now what exactly is your name, son?'

"I was like, holy smokes, you knew he was going to be a player. That's like Christmas, getting the best present of your life. I didn't even know anything about him and here we've got this stud corner right in our backyard."

Williams worked his way up to a role player and then a starter by his junior year, and Louisiana Tech got exposure playing teams such as Miami and Auburn. Soon there was a buzz about his pro playing future.

Williams changed his major but not his priorities - he earned two degrees, in computer information systems and sociology.

But after he had heard he might go in the third or fourth round, no one called draft day.

He spent the summer of 2006 with Houston as a free agent but got cut. He was brought onto the Packers' practice squad in late November that year, where he spent the rest of season.

In 2007, Williams earned a roster berth with the Packers and played in spots and on special teams. In 2008, he was the nickel cornerback until 11-year veteran Al Harris went out with an injured spleen. And he played well.

Williams also started at nickel in 2009, but filled in when Harris injured his knee that November and was lost for the year.

In 2010, Williams showed up to play even though the Packers only signed him to a one-year tender. It turns out that at times he's outplayed last year's defensive payer of the year, Charles Woodson. Packers coach Mike McCarthy has said often that Williams has had a Pro Bowl-deserving year, but he is also impressed with his film study.

"The smartest players in this league are always the your best players," McCarthy said. "Tramon's the guy that's always in the front row with his book taking the notes. He's been doing that since he arrived. He has a total understanding of the defensive system. What's exciting about Tramon: He still has a lot of football growth in his game ahead of him. He's still relatively young."

In late November, the Packers rewarded Williams with a four-year contract worth $33.074, making him the fourth-highest paid player on the roster in average salary, behind Aaron Rodgers, Woodson and Greg Jennings.

"Every good thing that's happened to Tramon on the field, all the plays he's making, he deserves," linebacker A.J. Hawk said. "I've never been around a better teammate than a guy like Tramon. He's awesome. I love how he prepares. He does everything right.

"There's a reason he's making huge plays, because he lives the right way. He prepares right. Has crazy amounts of talent. But he's doing the work to get the best out of it, I think."

Williams seems much more comfortable walking on air in football games than he does talking about his success. It is only far away from the cameras and crowds that a little of that southern drawl comes back out with a relaxed smile. He's not swept up in the outside attention he's getting.

"For the most part, things still have been kind of normal," he said. "I kind of keep my circle small. Hang out with the same people I've hung out with since I was small."

But for now, it's all business. The NFC Championship Game at Chicago on Sunday. Time to go to work.

"My understanding of the game has gotten better," Williams said. "The offense has a game plan, a certain number of plays that they're going to run. If you kind of pay attention, they're going to repeat some of those same plays. And that's where you make plays."