Celebrating A Hallandale Legend- Davin Joseph
HALLANDALE (CBSMiami) – As the Hallandale High School football team was having their pregame meal, the team received a special gift from a special former graduate.
Brand new uniforms.
"I think it's such a blessing because he doesn't have to do this," said Hallandale High senior Taj McGowan.
The 'he' that McGowan is talking about is NFL player Davin Joseph, who plays guard for the St. Louis Rams.
"I learned about Davin Joseph when I first came to Hallandale High," said sophomore Joshua Hammond. "They talk about him a lot."
Joseph, who was part of the Hallandale High Class of 2002, is somewhat of a legend in Hallandale football.
"Trust me, because he's in the NFL, they've done their homework," said Hallandale head football coach Daemon Jones of his players. "They know what type of player he was when he was here. [He] played both offense and defense. State champion, also national wrestling champion, so they know his history."
Joseph played college ball for the University of Oklahoma, was drafted in the first round and has done extremely well professionally.
Yet he hasn't forgotten his roots in Hallandale.
"It's amazing that he's where he's at, still worried about his alma mater," added Jones.
Today it's uniforms but over the years, every year, Joseph has given back to his school.
"The fact that he takes hard earned money and gives it back to the school he came from, I think that's just great," said McGowen.
He gives to all the school's teams. Right now you'll hear him on the radio trying to raise money to improve Hallandale's parks.
"I know what the parks meant to me," Joseph said during a radio recording. Now the decision is yours. Pay it forward Hallandale Beach. Let's your voice be heard on November 4th."
For someone who has come so far since his days as a high school athlete, Joseph has always found his way back home.
"People in Hallandale have invested in me so I want to invest back in my community," said Joseph. "And so it's my honor to give back to Hallandale and hopefully we can just keep it rolling."
Last week Hallandale High recognized Joseph for all he's done. They retired his jersey number and added him to their hall of fame.
"I have the honor of getting my jersey retired tonight but that could be one of you guys, multiples of you guys in the near future," Joseph told the Hallandale football team as they prepared to take the field that night.
Standing on the field during the jersey presentation, Joseph, in his true style, humbly accepted.
"Yeah my name is on [the retired jersey] but it's not just me," explained Joseph. "It's the city of Hallandale Beach. It's the PAL. It's Hallandale High School. It's everybody here. It's just all about coming together and really focusing in on the cause."
Joseph hopes his success, his example, leads the way for future generations to do the right thing.
The Chargers won their game the night that Joseph paid them a visit. In fact, they are 4-0 so far this season.
The school is on a roll.
Joseph, six-foot-three, 313 pounds, stressed to the kids that night while football is great, they need to focus on their education. Whether you make it to the pros or not, you'll always need a backup plan.
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