FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- When the Patriots selected defensive back Tavon Wilson with the 48th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft on Friday night, most fans and observers had one big question to ask:

"Who is Tavon Wilson?"

And that may just be the way Wilson wants it. A projected late-round selection or undrafted free agent by most draft analysts, Wilson was not invited to the Scouting Combine in February. Instead, he "watched every minute" of the Combine workouts, using it as motivation.

"I looked at it as I had more opportunity to get ready," Wilson said on Friday night. "Everybody else had six weeks, but I had eight weeks. When my Pro Day came, I felt that I was in best possible shape."

Some other highlights from Wilson's conference call with reporters following his selection:

Chose to play cornerback last season. Wilson began his career at Illinois as a cornerback, and moved to safety his junior season when another player was injured. He faced a decision on which position to play for his senior season. "Last year, my coaches asked me what positions I wanted to play for my senior season, and I told them I wanted to play corner. I kind of played everywhere. I played some safety some games, some corner, some nickel," Wilson said. "I just thought that was what I was most needed on my football team. We had a safety coming back off of injury, and I thought he was a pretty good player. We had some young guys that could play safety, but we didn't have the other corner. So I just said 'I'll play corner,' because I thought that was the best fit for the team."

Definitive answer on special teams. Wilson made it clear that he anticipates playing a role on special teams for the Patriots. "I played special teams in college. I'm going to play special teams with the Patriots. It's something that I love to do, and something that I'm going to do," Wilson said, noting that he played on the punt team, kickoff team, kickoff return team, and field goal block unit at Illinois.

Role of grandmother in his upbringing. Wilson had a pair of personal tragedies as a child, having his father murdered when he was one-year old, and having his mother drown at age 12. "It was rough. My hat goes off to my grandmother because she was a very strong woman, to take me and my sister in -- just raise us the best she can to try to give us everything she possibly could. Now I'm glad that I'm able to give her some of those things that she gave me," Wilson said. "Everybody has to overcome adversity. I overcame a lot of things in my life. That's the reason why I'm the person I am today. I never get too high or too low, I just keep working all the time, just take everything one day at a time."