They would take distinct and divergent paths to reach Super Bowl glory. But for Brandon Jacobs and Tramon Williams, the journey started here: on a narrow, rickety footbridge just inches above the murky waters of Louisiana's Bayou Lafourche.

Every Friday in the fall of 2000, the six senior starters on Assumption High School's football team followed the same pregame ritual. They'd meet at Jacobs' house on Jefferson Street for red beans and chicken and a few games of Madden. And when the orange sun began to melt into the endless sugarcane marshes that frame Napoleonville (population 700), they'd head out for the stadium. Down streets named after saints and through a crumbling 200-year-old cemetery full of familiar names, the teammates would stroll to the water's edge, and the town's single wood-plank footbridge would carry them across to the school, the stadium and, perhaps, far away from this place.

Every season more than 250,000 high school seniors play football, but only one out of every 10,000 actually makes it to the NFL. Of those lucky few, about half of 1 percent go on to earn a Super Bowl ring. Put another way, a high school football player is nearly five times more likely to be hit by lightning than to one day hoist the Lombardi trophy.

So the story of Jacobs, the blue chip running back who fulfilled his destiny with the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, and Williams, the walk-on corner who won a ring last year with Green Bay, is nothing less than remarkable. And not just because they were high school teammates who both beat the enormous odds, but also because of the way they did it. "You couldn't find two more different players, or people, who took two more different paths to the top," says Herb Washington, Assumption's quarterback in 2000 and now the school's offensive coordinator. "The way I describe it is, football fell in love with Brandon and bent over backwards for him, while Tramon fell in love with football and had to bend over backwards for it."

Jacobs struggled with his academic record in school, but today he has a firm grasp on a different kind of record -- the most rushing TDs in Giants history. William Perlman/The Star-Ledger/US Presswire

On the edge of town, off Highway 1, when the seniors hit the footbridge, Jacobs, the star, always crossed first, the bridge sagging under the strain of his massive 6'4", 240-pound frame. A punishing, angry runner with nimble feet and rare field vision, Jacobs rushed for 3,022 yards, 38 touchdowns and 8.6 yards per carry, leading Assumption to a 13-1 record and the state semis. In the district championship game, Jacobs broke through the line of scrimmage only to find one daring defensive tackle dangling from his elbow, trying to strip the ball. Undeterred, Jacobs carried him for five yards in the crook of his arm, like a plastic grocery bag, until the defender dropped off. His former teammates shake their heads as they recall how Jacobs then outran the rest of the defense 80 yards to the end zone.

One recruiter described the running back as "something Oliver Stone would've created for a football movie." Adds Lee Brecheen, editor of Louisiana Football Magazine and a leading recruiting authority on the Bayou for more than 22 years, "High school kids were flat-out afraid to tackle him. And with good reason: Brandon got tougher, faster and smarter as games went on. He was a freak of nature, a legend, the kind of player we won't ever see again in our lifetime."

Yet despite his immense talent, Jacobs wasn't a can't-miss prospect. Poor behavior and truancy landed him in a special-ed curriculum at Assumption, and he did not have enough credits to graduate. In Napoleonville, the football field is surrounded on three sides by sugarcane, and many locals figured Jacobs was headed "to Lula," referring to the region's largest sugarcane manufacturer. The folklore about Jacobs makes it sound like hundreds of college scouts flocked to Napoleonville, mesmerized by his size and stats. The truth is, besides a halfhearted last-second effort from then-LSU coach Nick Saban (who wanted Jacobs to play defensive end), only Auburn showed any real, consistent interest.

Auburn guided Jacobs to Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, where he pursued his GED and an associate degree at the same time. In 2003, Jacobs transferred to Auburn, only to sit behind future first-round picks Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams. So he transferred again, this time to Southern Illinois, where he put together enough of a résumé to become a fourth-round pick of the Giants in 2005. Two years later, New York rode Jacobs' first 1,000-yard season to the playoffs and then a Super Bowl win over the Patriots.

Now a seven-year vet, the 29-year-old Jacobs has 56 rushing touchdowns, the most in Giants history. "I give Brandon a lot of credit for taking full advantage," says Assumption's longtime head coach, Don Torres. "He understood that football was his one ticket out of Napoleonville. Whereas the feeling with Tramon always was, he was going to be successful at whatever he did. It was just up to him to decide what it would be."