A redshirt junior, Casey Williams was bound to play for the Nittany Lions ... " That's the second sentence in Penn State tight end Casey Williams' media guide entry.
After that, readers are told of his bloodlines. His father, Tom Sr., and uncle, Frank, both played for the Penn State football team. Frank graduated in 1972 and Tom in 1974. Williams's brother, Tom Jr., also donned the blue and white for two years, one on the bench with an injury, after transferring from Lafayette.
It makes it seem like it was all pre-ordained, part of a family tradition that everyone knew would someday continue, like there was a blue and white jersey hanging in a closet somewhere in the catacombs of Beaver Stadium being reserved for the next anointed Williams to pull it over his shoulder pads.
And in the end, it almost seems like a valid statement. Williams is the Lions' starting tight end. He is the fourth member of the family to play Penn State football and he is a contributor. He's a solid blocker, and he gives quarterback Zack Mills a sure-handed safety valve. He has 17 receptions and 187 receiving yards this season.
But it isn't destiny. Williams' No. 93 jersey isn't something he was assured at birth and his starting job was only recently a possibility, let alone a guarantee. While coming from a family of Penn State football players did help him, those are things the 5-foot-11, 242-pound former walk-on has had to fight for. There is no question that Williams' lineage still benefited his athletic career. Frank and Tom Sr. were actually just two of seven brothers who played football, among other sports, at Allentown Central Catholic H.S. The Williams boys had a sister, Cathy. Of course, she married a man named Jim Morgans, who not only played football with her brothers, but also would eventually coach Williams and his brother at the same school their father played at.
With that much athletic background in their family, it was only natural that Williams was exposed to sports early on. He wasn't forced to be a football player, but in his youth he was throwing a ball around at family outings and watching Penn State games on TV.
"I grew up playing all kinds of sports and just being active," Williams said. "No matter where we were at, we were playing football or baseball or something. That's just the way our whole family is. It was a great atmosphere."
Williams wasn't shorted genetically either. He was a natural, multi-talented athlete, and he was always big for his age. Because of football weight limits, he was forced to play on teams with Tom, who was two years older. He still started on the defensive line. He became a star at football, baseball and basketball in youth leagues, and continued with all three through high school. He started on the basketball team for two years and on the football and baseball teams for four.
He was not only big, but also skilled and versatile. As a baseball player he was a team captain and most valuable player in his senior year.
As a football player, he could play defensive end or linebacker on the defensive side of the ball, tight end on offense, and to top it off, he could punt.
He didn't do all of that on talent alone, however. His work ethic was dogged. No matter what other sports he was playing, he made a point to get to the weight room for football workouts. His brother was the same way, and though both were quiet kids, they earned enough respect from their teammates for that to be named team captains.
"They walked the walk," Morgans said. "They did the job they had to do. They didn't have to be vocal. They led by the way they played."
By doing so, Williams led the Vikings to a state championship his senior year and was named third team All-State as a tight end.
However, this is where heredity started meaning a lot less. Williams had worked hard and been successful, so it might be expected that, like his father and uncle before him, he would be thereby be rewarded with scholarship letters from major programs.
