The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

That time Karl savaged teammates…

Fun fact about Joseph: He was a high school wrestler, basically because he wanted to find a way to literally fight boredom after football season. It’s one reason he arrived at West Virginia without any room for fear or time for apologies. He was going to let his teammates know who he was as soon and as unforgettably as possible.

When spring football came, he got to know linebacker Josh Francis in a rather unique way.

“Francis will wrestle anybody,” Garvin said of the 6-foot, 1-inch, 220-pound Francis, who was toughened by growing up in Damascus, Md., and then playing junior college football for two years at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa. “He’s a big, bad guy around here and if you wrestle Francis, you’re most likely going to lose.

“Karl ended up winning, so people were like, ‘Hold on, who’s that?’ “

Not everyone knew, so Joseph took it upon himself to make sure they knew his name and understood he wasn’t scared of anything – except snakes, and he wouldn’t dare tell anyone that. During one spring practice, just as he was beginning to get his hands on some playing time, Joseph was with the defense that was going against an offense handing off to running back Shawne Alston.

Alston slipped through a gap before running into a pile of offensive and defensive players.

“I came to a stop,” Alston said. “Karl kept going. He blew me up a little bit.” Alston knew better than to ever let up again. “After that,” he said, “I started running angry all the time.”