If you know Davin Joseph, you understand how impressive this one time Hallandale High football and wrestler is as an athlete and as a person.

When he was chosen to represent the NFC last weekend in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl, the University of Oklahoma product didn’t think of just himself after receiving the phone call to be an alternate. What he did was something right out of his playbook that has made this 6-3, 305-pounder so special.

After accepting to play in the game, the former first round selection of the Tampa Bay Bucs called his mother Minnie, father, Elie and his friends to tell them to pack their bags for the trip to the Pro Bowl. He also brought along his fellow linemen Arron Sears, Donald Penn and Jeremy Trueblood.

He is made good on a promise the group made long ago: The first one named to the Pro Bowl takes the others. And Joseph, already indebted to his linemates after losing a bet when his alma mater, Oklahoma, fell to Florida in the BCS title game, had to make the trip a little more comfortable for the trio. They traveled to Hawaii on first-class tickets purchased by Joseph.

The grand total: More than $6,000.

Joseph has done nothing but made this area proud to call him one of their own. Since leaving Hallandale High, where he was coached by Bob Wood in football and Allen Held, who helped his heavyweight win two state titles, Joseph has been the kind of person I always knew he would be.

Not only was a solid football player for the Oklahoma Sooners, but he also made an impact in the classroom, being recognized by the Big-12 Conference.

Having been by his side the day that Jon Gruden selected him in the first round, Joseph has remained humble, giving back to the Hallandale area as well as making good on making lives a lot brighter with the Davin Joseph Foundation, donating meals and other items for the holidays.

The past two years, Joseph has donated 75 turkeys to residents of Hallandale as well as helping his friend, Mubeen Hamid, at Hallandale High, where the wrestling and football teams are proud to call him one of their own.

“The thing about Davin is he will never say no when it comes to the community he grew up in and now lives,” said Hamid, who took over as wrestling coach this year for the Chargers. “He has always been there to do good for everyone.”

Joseph, who also hosts a radio show in the Tampa Bay area, reaches out to kids in the Hillsborough/Pinellas County areas, donating money, goods and his time. Last year, he worked in an area fast food restaurant to help raise money.

“His time is very valuable,” said Held, who went ot see the Bucs’ final home game this past season. “He makes sure that everything he promised to do, he accomplishes, but he has always been that way.”

Back in high school, I would often talk with him about his future, believing that everything that is happening for him now, would one day come. He was always humble and understood about being a role model. You just knew that he would give back to his community once he made it to the top, and as those in Hallandale Beach have found out, he is very much a man of his word.

“Davin is a role model,” Held said. “While some people may try and take advantage of his good nature, he is smart enough to know when enough is enough.”

Two years ago, after his rookie season in Tampa, Joseph helped to coach Cardinal Gibbons’ heavyweight Bobby Christopher. At the state championships in Lakeland, Joseph was in the corner, shouting words of encouragement to the high school senior who would go on and capture a 1A state crown by going undefeated.

“It’s things like that you cannot teach,” said Cardinal Gibbons’ wrestling coach Frank Pettineo. “Here is someone who didn’t even go to this school but felt strongly enough to pull for him and teach him things that may have won the crown. That is very special.”

With Joseph starting the season on the injured list, missing four games, he quickly made up ground and proved to the rest of his peers that he was indeed one of the top players in the league. Good enough to get the call when Dallas Cowboys’ Leonard Davis was unable to make the game.

While there are so many BCAA graduates making a mark in the NFL, Joseph is one of the newbies, who fully expects that last Sunday will not be his only stop on one of the biggest stages in the game!

NEXT WEEK: Headed to the state wrestling tournament. Which athletes can bring home titles.

You can reach Larry Blustein via e-mail at FloridaKids1@hotmail.com. He can also be heard every Thursday night (9-10) on the Miami Dolphins High School Gridiron Report on WQAM (560 AM).