Mississippi State to hold memorial, wear decal to honor Keith Joseph Jr., father

Mississippi State is doing what it can to memorialize the lives of Keith Joseph Jr. and Keith Joseph Sr. this week.

A memorial service for the two MSU football players is planned for 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum on the MSU campus in Starkville. The service will be open to the public.

The funeral is set for Friday, but the site and time are still to be determined.

Also, MSU announced Monday that the football team will wear a decal to honor the two men the rest of the season. The decal simply reads “MJ,” which is what Keith Joseph Jr. was known as to his teammates at MSU, Pascagoula and Gautier.

An image of the decal was placed on the front of the podium Monday in Starkville as head coach Dan Mullen addressed the media in his weekly press conference.

A moment of silence will be observed prior to MSU’s game against No. 3 Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville.

Keith Jr. and Keith Sr. died Friday in Greene County when their 2011 Chevrolet Silverado left the road and flipped multiple times off Mississippi 57 near Leakesville.

They were traveling from Starkville to watch Friday night’s Pascagoula-Gautier football game in Pascagoula.

Keith Jr., a defensive end, spent his first two years of high school at Gautier before transferring to Pascagoula for his junior and senior campaigns. He signed with MSU in February and was receiving a redshirt during his freshman season at Mississippi State.

Keith Sr. was a standout linebacker at Pascagoula and Mississippi State. He played at MSU in 1989-92 and ranks 10th in school history with 14 career sacks.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Mississippi State to hold memorial, wear decal to honor Keith Joseph Jr., father ."