SAN FRANCISCO — It was only a few years ago that Jacquian Williams was ready to give up football. He decided he wasn’t going to get back on the airplane and return to Fort Scott Community College. He was ready to give up on the sport.
But his mother, Theolanda, provided a voice of reason.
“She begged me to go back,” Williams said last night. “She made me go. I love her for it and I thank her for it. If not for her, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
PHOTOS: GIANTS BEAT 49ERS TO ADVANCE TO SUPER BOWL
Where Williams, Big Blue’s rookie linebacker, stood was in a jubilant Giants locker room celebrating a classic 20-17 overtime victory over the 49ers to win the NFC Championship and a berth in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis against the Patriots.
Lawrence Tynes kicked a 31-yard field goal with 7:06 left in overtime to secure the victory. But it was a heads-up, punt-coverage play by Williams that provided the Giants opportunity to kick the game-winner. It also fulfilled a pregame premonition by head coach Tom Coughlin.
Figuring the game on a wet track between two stout defensive teams would be a close, rugged contest, Coughlin’s gut told him someone least expected might come up with the game’s biggest play.
“I felt like someone who did not necessarily get the kudos and wasn’t someone that everyone is familiar with as a guy that’s a difference maker in the game, I thought someone like that would step up and make a big play,” the coach said.
That someone proved to be Williams. It came when the Giants’ second offensive possession of overtime ended with them punting from their own 44. There was nothing unusual about Steve Weatherford’s 37 boot through a light rain. It landed in the hands of 49ers return man Kyle Williams, who was replacing the injured Ted Ginn Jr.
Williams caught the ball cleanly, but just as he tried to make a move Jacquian Williams was there to attempt that tackle.
Williams takes it from there: “I was definitely thinking about going down there and making a play,” he said. “I knew somebody had to make it, so I felt like it was going to be me.
“My goal is to make every tackle. So I was going for the tackle. But he made a move and I just stuck my hand at the ball. I saw the ball falling. But I thought he was already done. Obviously he wasn’t.”
Devin Thomas recovered the fumble for the Giants at the 49ers’ 24. Five plays later, Tynes kicked the Giants to Indianapolis and Jacquian Williams, a sixth-round draft pick from South Florida, was Coughlin’s unlikely hero.
“There’s always somebody who jumps out of the shadows,” said Giants GM Jerry Reese.
Williams, 6-foot-3 with a chiseled 225-pound frame, is projected as a future outside linebacker. He saw sporadic duty throughout the season but showed the inconsistency of a rookie. But he continued to work hard throughout the season and impressed coaches with his dedication on special teams.
“It definitely has been a long journey,” he said. “It was a lot of battling. We had guys going down and the rookies had to step up and I had to be one of the guys to step up. Rookies don’t usually play. But I got the opportunity and I’m glad I did all the fighting and scratching. I just had to patient.”
Of course, none of it happens if his mother hadn’t put him back on that plane to finish junior college. She was waiting outside the Giants locker room along with the other players’ family members. Mother and son embraced.
“It’s something I’ve dreamed of,” Williams said. “To have the opportunity to make a big play in a big game like this.”
He has his mom to thank for that.
george.willis@nypost.com