TACKLING TINSELTOWN LINEBACKER CHASES SHOW-BIZ DREAM.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

A kid from Louisiana with a talent for football and a dream of becoming a Hollywood filmmaker, Kirby Joseph took the hard road to Los Angeles - on his own by Greyhound - and impressed UCLA coaches so much they gave him a scholarship.

Joseph, a linebacker who started working out Tuesday with other freshman football players at the University of California, Los Angeles, twice traveled by bus with tickets that members of his church in Lake Charles, La., helped him buy so he could pursue his dream.

``When I was real young, I wanted to pursue a career in film and television,'' Joseph said. ``I read about NYU, USC and UCLA. From everything I heard, all the good films come from Hollywood so I chose UCLA. Then it was: How am I going to get there?''

Joseph's vehicle, he decided, would be football, a sport he first played in eighth grade after relatives teased him for being such a big kid and playing trumpet in the band. When he learned that the Bruins didn't recruit in the Deep South, Joseph soon realized he would have to recruit them. The best way to do that was by showing up at the UCLA camp for high school players each June.

``He got it in his head that L.A. was the place for him,'' said his mother, Alberta, a foreman and laborer at a petroleum plant who reared Joseph with the help of his grandmother. ``When he told me he wanted to go out there, I told him there's no way I'm going to let you go to California and, furthermore, I can't afford it.'''

Joseph typed up a letter detailing his ambitions. Then he took the video camera he'd been given as a present, went to his bedroom, which is festooned with football awards and motivational quotes from the likes of Bruce Lee and Michael Jordan, and produced a tape of himself reading from the letter.

When Joseph finished, he summoned all his relatives to his grandmother's living room, played the tape for them and asked for a donation. He passed the letter and a hat at church.

``People pulled me aside in church and said, Here, Kirby, you go pursue your dream,'' Joseph said. ``People I didn't even know, from my (relatives') jobs would say, Here, give him this.'' In all, he raised $950 - enough to cover the cost of the camp and a round-trip bus ticket.

Not knowing a soul, Joseph arrived at the bus terminal in downtown Los Angeles and took a taxi to campus. He performed well enough at the camp to catch the attention of UCLA's coaches. He made the trip again last spring and by the time he returned home he had a scholarship offer.

``His personality was so delightful, his work ethic, his energy, his enthusiasm, the quality person he is - all those things really drew us to him when he first visited,'' UCLA linebackers coach Marc Dove said.

``From that point our interest grew. Fortunately, he came out again and gave us another opportunity to show us he'd grown and had continued to develop.''

As much as he invested in his trips to UCLA, Joseph couldn't say yes immediately, which speaks to the pull of Louisiana State University, in a state where the second-most-popular team is the NFL's New Orleans Saints.

``All anybody thinks about at home is going to LSU,'' said Joseph, who after a paperwork mix-up was cleared Tuesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to join his fellow freshmen in workouts this week.

``I knew what I wanted to do with my life and that's why I'm here. I've got a dream. If it (were) just football, I would have signed with LSU the moment I had a chance, but this is more than that. It's my future.''

For the moment, it appears as bright on the field as off it.

Joseph, who is 6 feet 2 inches, 230 pounds, completed his high school career with 34 sacks as a defensive end and won the state championship in the shot put. He also writes poetry, has taught himself to play the piano and composed the song his class performed at graduation.

``He's the one who's beaten the odds,'' said his mother.

``I always thought I was the outcast,'' Joseph said.

``A lot of people felt like smoking was cool, but you can't blow the trumpet if you smoke. ... I talk to other (football players) at all-star camps and most of them don't know what they want to major in - they can't wait to go to the pros. If God has that door open for me and I work hard, I think I can do it. But this is a free education, that's what I'm thinking about.''

In the past week, as he's visited the beach and Magic Mountain, and attended a Dodgers game for the first time, he's been given to thinking about something else - the unlikely journey here.

``If I didn't come out (to L.A.), I'd have been just another letter (from someone wanting to play) at UCLA,'' said Joseph, who this time arrived here by plane.

``It's a dream come true.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) UCLA freshman Kirby Joseph pauses after practice to reflect on his unlikely journey from Lake Charles, La., to Westwood.

(2) Linebacker Kirby Joseph, right, who worked to earn a football scholarship to UCLA so he could study filmmaking in Los Angeles, makes a tackle during practice.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Box:

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