STARKVILLE — Ryan Brown will never forget the first time he met Keith Joseph Jr.
Brown, a senior on the Mississippi State football team, met Joseph this summer when they gathered as a team to do conditioning drills before training camp. Brown said he was usually in the front of the pack, but on this day, he saw a player run past him. He waited until after practice to confront Joseph, who zipped past him.
“When we got to the locker room I said, ‘If you keep working that hard, you’re going to sweat your Jheri curl out,'” Brown recalled. “That’s when I first saw him smile.”
Joseph’s smile left a mark on the Bulldogs. He and his father, Keith Sr., will both be remembered.
The father and son were killed in a one-car accident Friday heading to see a Pascagoula High School football game.
MSU held a memorial for both Keith Jr. and Sr. Thursday inside Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs will wear “MJ” decals on their helmets Saturday when they host the Alabama Crimson Tide. Keith Jr. was born Marshean Joseph. His teammates called him “MJ.”
Legacy
Joseph had yet to play a snap for the Bulldogs and was being redshirted. Keith Sr. played at MSU from 1989-92 and is 10th all-time in school history with 14 sacks.
The loss of Keith Jr. and Sr. came as a shock to the MSU football team and every different emotion has been felt this week by Keith Jr.’s teammates. But the team has tried to focus on the good times they remember having with him.
MSU coach Dan Mullen said the memory of father and son will be with so many people, burned into their hearts, burned into their minds. He said when people are alive, you don’t ever think about the legacy they will leave behind. Mullen said Keith Jr. and Sr.’s legacy will be different to so many people.
“I never got to see Keith Sr. as a football player…” Mullen said. “What you saw, was a father who cared deeply about his son, loved his son, wanted to be around him, wanted to see his son achieve his goals, and live out his dreams.
“Keith Jr. left a legacy for all of us here that is something that is special and very unique,” Mullen said. “He was a young man that was going to give his absolute best every single day whatever it was he was doing.”
MSU defensive line coach David Turner said several people reached out to him when they heard that one of his players had died. As he looked at the many text messages he received, only one word came to mind to describe Keith Jr.: great.
So in every text message he sent back, he wrote, “He’s a great, great kid.”
Turner remembers meeting Keith Jr. during the recruiting process and the first thing he saw was the smile that beamed from the young man’s face. When he got to campus this summer, Turner said everything said about Keith Jr. was true.
‘Outstanding young man’
MSU president Dr. Mark Keenum presented an honorary diploma to the Keith family during the memorial service. Keenum said he didn’t know Keith Jr. very well, but every time he saw him there was one thing he always saw.
“He would always greet me with his wonderful, uplifting smile,” Keenum said. “He was someone I always found to be respectful, very polite, and truly an outstanding young man and a truly outstanding student at Mississippi State.”
Keenum said both Keith Sr. and Jr. “made the world a better place.”
Along with Brown, Mullen, Turner, and Keenum speaking at the memorial service, Fellowship of Christian Athletes Director Bill Buckley, safeties coach Tony Hughes, football recruiting specialist Sleepy Robinson, and Mullen’s wife Megan addressed the audience that was in attendance. Former Bulldog basketball player Tyson Cunningham and his band sang a couple of songs.
The entire football team was on hand and many showed emotion as they said goodbye to the their teammate. Freshman safeties Jamal Peters and Mark McLaurin dropped Keith Jr. off in Meridian last Friday so he could meet up with his dad. They were the last to see him. Emotion poured from them as they both sat with their parents and were comforted by so many people.
Both caskets for Keith Jr. and Sr. were present at the memorial and out of respect, players put dog tags on them. The center jumbotron was pulled down and their pictures were shown throughout the event.
‘Playing for you’
The Bulldogs have tried to move on this week in practice without Keith Jr. and coaches have said the players have found a place of solace two hours a day on the practice fields.
On Saturday, Keith Jr. and Sr. will be on their minds.
“We love you man and we’re playing for you,” Brown said as he finished giving his speech.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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