Seth Williams joined an exclusive group when he signed with Auburn in December.

The four-star wide receiver out of Cottondale became one of the rare recruits from Tuscaloosa County to sign with Auburn. How rare is it for that to happen? The last time Auburn got a player from Alabama's backyard was linebacker Derrick Graves from Holt in 2001.

Before that? You'd have to go back to the 70s, when Auburn signed defensive end Jim Pitts out of Northport in 1973 and offensive tackle Mike Skelton out of Tuscaloosa in 1976.

It's something that isn't lost on Williams, the No. 5 player in the state.

"It's super rare," Williams said. "That's all I hear: 'They got him out of the backyard.' It wasn't a backyard for me because I was never in the backyard."

Williams grew up an Alabama fan, and he admits that he never even spoke about Auburn with his family as a potential option until the Tigers offered him a scholarship in May 2016.

That's when the discussions and the research began. The more Williams read up on the program and the university altogether, the more impressed he became. He attended Junior Day a year ago, and then took an unofficial visit to the Plains back in July.

The 6-foot-3, 212-pound receiver only attended one Auburn game last season, when he was in town to watch the Iron Bowl -- two days after he committed on Thanksgiving.

"You know how you get a good feeling about things, I had that good feeling here when I first stepped on campus," Williams said. "I knew it was meant for me. I knew I was going to enjoy my time here and it was a place I could fit in without football if something does happen."

When Williams signed with Auburn during the early signing period in December, he became just the sixth player from Tuscaloosa County to ever ink with the Tigers.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Auburn seldom plucks players out of its biggest rival's neighborhood -- much less one who, like Williams, attended Paul W. Bryant High. The irony of going to a high school named after the legendary Tide coach but signing with Auburn is not lost on Williams.

"It wasn't weird for me; it might be weird for everybody else, but for me -- I didn't really feel no pressure to go to Alabama," Williams said. "I feel like it wasn't a burden on my back to go to Alabama."

That's not to say Williams didn't consider Alabama. After all, he grew up a Tide fan and Alabama was the first school to offer him back in April 2016. The Tide's recruitment of him slowed down last spring amid the coaching changes on the offensive side of the ball, but once that was settled, then-offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and receivers coach Mike Locksley were in frequent contact with him.

Williams took four unofficial visits to Alabama between summer 2016 and last summer, and he was at the Tide's Junior Day back in February. Alabama never got him on campus for an official visit, however. Auburn was the only school to receive one of those, with Williams on campus this past weekend.

"I knew I wasn't going to take another official visit," Williams said. "I already had my mind set on where I wanted to go. For me it's all about, I'm committed and definitely locked in here. There wasn't any point in me taking anything else to see what's going on out there."

As for the response back home -- where Williams estimates 97 percent of his high school cheers for Alabama -- when he chose Auburn?

"It was good and bad, but it wasn't no super bad thing," he said. "It was just like, 'He should have went to Alabama, man; they're going to take care of you.' It doesn't matter to me. I had my mind set to come in, grind, come here 3-4 years and go to the league."

After graduating in May, Williams plans to arrive at Auburn at the end of that month or early June. Once he's on the Plains, he plans to win over the folks back home who gave him a hard time about choosing the Tigers.

"It has died down now," Williams said of the backlash. "They say they're going to support me, they're not going to support the team, but they're going to support me. They're going to flip."

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.