He faced food insecurity as a high schooler. Now, this Philly native looks to make it in pro football with his mother by his side.

Casey Williams used to drink water to feel full or exercise until he was exhausted enough to forget about the hunger pangs that made sleep difficult.

Williams, a 2016 graduate of South Philadelphia High School, and his mother, Zina, were subjects of The Inquirer’s 2019 special report on food insecurity and high school athletes.

“We got evicted a bunch of times, were homeless a bunch of times, and stayed in a couple shelters through high school,” Casey said last week during his going-away party in North Philly. “The whole time she was still working hard, trying to put food on the table. So that’s why I’m working hard now to give it all back to her.”

If you’re looking for them these days, head north of the border and follow the sound of the cowbell.

Zina will be the one ringing feverishly during Toronto Argonauts football games.

Casey will be on the field trying to make noise of his own.

Their journey has been one of tumult and triumph. This Mother’s Day, both look back on what they’ve overcome, where they’re headed, and how they’re doing it together.

Williams once estimated that he moved, for various reasons, six to eight times between junior high and high school — and that doesn’t include brief stays with friends or relatives when domestic violence erupted at home.

“My family wasn’t perfect, so I bounced around,” he said in 2019, “having to stay with different friends, not having my own room, my own house all the time.”

When food was scarce, Williams filled up on water. If that didn’t work, he would do push-ups until his body had no choice but to slumber.

The next day, he did it all again, often navigating the shame that comes from relying on free and reduced-price school meals provided by the school district.

Hunger, however, eventually became his motivation.

“I wasn’t trying to be hungry no more,” he said, “so I came in every day, every workout, every game, every practice, and gave it my all because I wanted to go into stores [one day] and just get what I wanted off of hard work.”

Eventually he earned a scholarship to Temple. He later transferred to Stony Brook, where he became a standout defensive lineman and graduated in 2021.

Last year, Williams signed with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and spent three months on the practice squad before he was released. He signed with the Argonauts, who have the most CFL championships (18) in league history, on Nov. 19, 2022.

Williams, who also is a certified strength coach and personal trainer, said his passion and work ethic made an impression, which made him confident that another team would give him chance.

“When he was younger, we struggled a lot,” Zina said. “He stayed strong through the whole process, and that’s what makes him the man he is today, and I’m so grateful.”

Zina Williams, 50, says she has always struggled to control her weight, and it caused various health problems.

When he was in college, Casey would give her health tips that he learned in class. Today, she has lost more than 100 pounds. Her mother, whom she says also was “heavy,” died from a heart attack at age 47.

Zina plans to stick around for a while. She has goals to chase with her son.

She got her learner’s permit last month. It has been more than 30 years since she last drove. She wants to get her license so she can deliver meals to the elderly. She also is back in school, serves as a Red Cross volunteer, and hopes to start a nonprofit benefiting Philly youth.

“That’s my motivation,” she said of Casey. “That’s my baby. I’m excited. I’m growing right along with him.”

Growing up, Casey benefited from Focused Athletics, the nonprofit that provides athletic, academic, and professional support to high school athletes in the city.

Casey returned to the program and mentored young athletes while in college.

“If you know me,” he said, “you know how much I love my city. I’m going off to do better things and invest in myself so I can come back and invest in my city even more.”

Zina hasn’t always been allowed to bring the cowbell into stadiums, but that hasn’t stopped her.

“She brought it to the first game [at Stony Brook], and I heard it,” Casey said. “The next game, they told her she couldn’t have it, and she still snuck it in. That’s like her signature. She does that, and I look over and that’s my motivation right there.”

He left for Canada on Tuesday. The feeling is bittersweet, Zina said. She already misses him, but she’s happy that he is chasing his dream and plans to attend as many games as possible.

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Casey still dreams of playing in the NFL. Zina is confident it will happen.

No matter what the future holds, it seems clear they will handle it together.

“We both had to grow,” Casey said. “We were forced to grow. This version of us that people are seeing now, they think we got it all figured it out. No, we’ve been through a lot of pain and hurt and just decided to grow together.”