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.

He'll tell you straight out. He'll walk into the room -- hair still wet from the shower and, in jeans and a polo shirt, looking no different than any college boy -- and say it flat out before he has even settled in the chair.

On football Saturdays, 106,000 people cram into Beaver Stadium to watch their beloved Nittany Lions play football. Students line up elbow-to-elbow along silver bleachers, jockeying for position to better see the field. Alumni and their families pack themselves into the seats, adorned from head to toe in full Penn State paraphenaila.

World traveler. Role model. Penn State icon. It sure has been a long road to State College.