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Joseph & Joseph Defensive brothers are Miami's 'silent assassins'Posted: Sunday December 29, 2002 7:27 PMUpdated: Monday December 30, 2002 10:39 AM
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Joseph brothers don't have much to say. Ever. Defensive tackle William Joseph and his younger brother, offensive tackle Carlos Joseph, hardly talk to teammates, coaches, opponents, reporters or even each other. Their play, though, speaks volumes for No. 1 Miami. "They're our silent assassins," teammate Vernon Carey said. "They don't say much. They just go out and get the job done, week-in and week-out." William has started every game in his four-year career, compiling 197 tackles, 75 quarterback hurries and 191/2 sacks. He is the team's most disruptive defensive lineman and is faced with helping stop Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett in the Fiesta Bowl. Carlos, faced with the tough task of replacing All-American Bryant McKinnie at left tackle, has played well in his first season as a starter. He emerged as a strong run-blocker, helping open holes for Willis McGahee. His biggest challenge Friday night will be keeping Will Smith, one of the Buckeyes' top pass-rushers, from getting to quarterback Ken Dorsey. "I'm ready," Carlos said.
What he's not ready to do is say much more. "They're both really shy characters, but man they work," center Brett Romberg said. Sons of Haitian immigrants who clean hotel rooms, the brothers were born and raised in Miami's Little Haiti, growing up in what Carlos called "a ghetto filled with shootings every night." They picked up English from friends and then perfected it in school. Their parents understand and speak little English; they communicate mostly in Creole. The brothers fell in love with football at an early age but were too big to play in community leagues that imposed a 150-pound weight maximum. Instead, they played sandlot football with kids much older and closer to their size. "We both wanted to play football so bad, but we had to wait until high school," William said. "We picked it up front there and good things have happened." The best has yet to come, though. William could have left school early last season, and scouts said the 6-foot-5, 282-pound tackle would have been a certain first-round pick in the NFL draft because of his size, strength and quickness. Instead, he returned for his senior season. And he leads the Hurricanes with 15 tackles for a loss and 29 quarterback hurries, helping them record 46 sacks this season, five shy of the team record set in 1989. "I was the first person in my family to attend college, and I wanted to be the first one to graduate," said William, who graduated earlier this month with a liberal arts degree. "That was the only reason I came back." The NFL is still in his future, and he already has plans to buy his parents a new home after he signs his first contract. Carlos, 10 months younger than William, will be back at Miami next season. The 6-foot-6, 316-pound junior began his freshman season on offense, then moved to defense before switching back. The Hurricanes expect him to get better. Maybe as a talker, too. "You rarely even see them talking to each other in the locker room," guard Sherko Haji-Rasouli said. "Once in a while you'll see them sitting beside each other on the couch, but they're not saying anything. They're not social butterflies, but they're tremendously hard workers. "They understand that hard work is going to get them somewhere. That's what I admire about them." |
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