By Will Vandervort.

DeShawn Williams performed like a man that had a chip on his shoulder at Clemson’s Pro Day on Thursday.

“I watched the (NFL) combine and it kind of pissed me off,” Williams said after working out in front of all 32 NFL teams at Clemson’s Indoor Practice Facility.

Williams was “pissed off” because he was not invited to the star-studded invent, though his Clemson linemates Vic Beasley, Grady Jarrett and Corey Crawford were invited.

The former Clemson Tiger was coming off his best year in college as he recorded 54 tackles, eight tackles for loss and three sacks from his defensive tackle position. He also had seven quarterback pressures and broke up a key pass, a fourth-down pass at the goal line, preserving the Tigers’ 23-17 victory over Louisville last October.

Not being invited to the combine wasn’t the first time Williams has been overlooked in his football career. During his senior year at nearby Daniel High School, he was passed over by both the Shrine Bowl and the North-South All-Star Game, despite earning a scholarship offer from Clemson.

Williams has said countless times during his career at Clemson that being shunned from the state of South Carolina’s two all-star games motivated him to prove them wrong. He ultimately did by becoming a starter on a defense that led the nation in total yards allowed in 2014 and on a defensive line that was considered to be the best defensive front in America.

“I’m used to it. I’m used to being the underdog,” he said. “I’m just going to keep my mouth closed and just work. I’m that guy. I’m just me. I’ll give you what I got and you are going to get a great player.”

With New England head coach Bill Belichick in attendance as well as Eagles’ head coach Chip Kelly and Steelers’ general manager Kevin Colbert, Williams shined at Pro Day. He ran a 4.96 in the 40-yard dash and then followed that up with an impressive 28 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press.

He also showed out in bag, foot, three-cone and shuttle drills. By the end of the three-hour session, Williams was receiving text messages from a lot of teams.

“I saw (Belichick) giving me a look when I was doing my feet drill. I could tell he was thinking, ‘Who is this guy?’ I got his attention,” Williams said.

And that’s all he wanted to accomplish on Thursday. Williams wanted NFL teams to recognize him and let them know he is also a very good player.

“Whoever picks me, they’re going to get a hard working guy,” he said. “I’m not a guy that is going to be showboating. I’m going to get the job done. Today I feel like I showed what I can do.”

And once again he proved he belonged. He proved he should have been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in the first place. But that’s okay. If he had, then maybe he would not have stood out as much as he did on Thursday.

“I’m not going to lie, I feel like I should have been there,” Williams said, “but I came here to show what I can do and I feel it showed today. It just motivates you. I just want to hit the ground running with this performance. I feel like I had a good day.”