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PHOTO: Mississippi State to honor Keith Joseph Jr., father with decal
Mississippi State lost two members of its football family over the weekend, as freshman lineman Keith Joseph Jr. and his father Keith Joseph Sr. died Friday night in a car accident. Joseph Sr. was a member of the Bulldogs football team from 1989 to 1992.
As the team moves on to Alabama week with heavy hearts, this decal will be added to the Bulldogs' helmets for the rest of the season to preserve the memory of both men:
Keith Joseph Jr. was known as “MJ” to his teammates. We will wear this helmet decal to honor he and his father. pic.twitter.com/8fotSm8xSe
— MSU Football (@HailStateFB) November 9, 2015
The logo also adorned the Mississippi State podium as head coach Dan Mullen gave his Monday introductory news conference.
On the podium today pic.twitter.com/yikOSqfBRd
— Michael Bonner (@MikeBBonner) November 9, 2015
“Losing a family member like that as part of your program, there’s nothing more devastating that's ever going to happen to you as a coach or as a football team or as a program,” Mullen said.
Mississippi State will host a memorial service Thursday in honor of Joseph Jr. and Sr. The two were driving to a game at Pascagoula High School, where both of them also played.
As he was in the midst of a redshirt campaign, Joseph, 18, had yet to make his impact on the field for the team; however it appears his work at practice was stellar.
"Keith was such a great young man and gave unbelievable effort in everything he was doing," Mullen said. "A 4.0 student here at Mississippi State and was a great student coming out of high school. He was probably our scout team player of the week every week, but we have to share it with other people because it wouldn't have been fair."
The Bulldogs coach expects his players to hit the field with a sense of purpose this week and use the field and the game to get through this most difficult time.
“For all these young men, football’s their safe place," Mullen said. "That’s where any problem that you have, anything you’re dealing with, any grief you’re having, anything going on in your life -- for a lot of our guys, when they step on the football field, that’s when a lot of things disappear.”
It's the second time in five years that the Bulldogs have had to deal with a player's death. Defensive lineman Nick Bell died from cancer in 2010.
"Coach Mullen said it best, there is no certain way to feel or get over it," Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott said. "You've just got to play for him and think about him in the things you do."
The memorial service will be at Humphrey Coliseum and is open to the public.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
