Iona Prep fans and opponents heckled Joey Gaston on the field all season, but he used it as fuel. Gaston — the younger brother of rapper Ice Spice — dreams of playing in the NFL one day. The 17-year-old spoke about his junior football season and the Ice Spice jokes.

“It’s a little bit surreal. It’s an incredible experience to watch my sister become who she wanted to become,” Gaston told Complex. “I’m a really proud younger brother. And I know that as long as I keep doing what I’m doing, once I make it, she’s going to be a really proud older sister.”

Ice Spice’s brother Joey Gaston on their relationship

“We’re just creating a path, you know; she created a path that makes me want to work harder. It’s like, damn, I see what she’s doing now, and it makes me want to do it even more,” he added.

"Defensive ends get a sack and be like 'you thought I was feelin’ you?'" 😂

Being Ice Spice's brother comes with some insane trolling on the football field for Joey Gaston.

LINK TO OUR FULL INTERVIEW WITH GASTON: https://t.co/i7qaK8kyZF pic.twitter.com/LXshDora9o
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) January 4, 2024

During his junior season, Gaston passed for just over 2200 yards, rushed for 740 yards and scored 24 touchdowns. While on the field for Iona Prep, he received commentary from fans and opposing players, but he turned it into fuel. Gaston said the comments were “nothing too crazy” but shared examples of what fans would say.

“I was playing in the semifinals of the playoffs; second half we’re getting ready to go on the field,” Gaston said. “I hear the student section like, ‘All right, he’s coming, he’s coming.’ They start clapping and saying ‘We love Ice Spice’ clap clap ‘We love Ice Spice. Next drive, I threw a touchdown, and I went to the sidelines, and I started clapping.”

Gaston said he pays no mind to the crowd and instead focuses on the new season. The star player balances school, football and modeling; he doesn’t have time for hecklers.

“Defensive ends get a sack and be like, ‘You thought I was feelin’ you?'” he added. “They give me a little line or whatever, and it just adds to the competitiveness because I’m like, ‘Watch what’s going to happen next play.’ It’s all love.”

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Joey calls on his sister as an inspiration, sharing that seeing her become what she said she was has motivated him to get into the NFL. While his big sister hasn’t attended a game, she supports her baby brother from afar.

“She wasn’t able to go to any games, but she did watch a lot of games online when she got the chance. And she would actually text me before and after the games,” Gaston told Complex. “She texts me like, ‘I know you’re killing it out there. I’m proud of you and who you became.'”

“Her being there and watching my games and being able to text me after sits in my heart because it’s like, I know she has such a busy schedule. It makes me happy,” he added.

In November, Gaston spoke about an instance in which he was playing against a team in which every member of the student section wore an orange wig.

“Recently, we played a team, and I looked up the opposing student section. I never look up at the student section. I’m locked in,” told GQ. “But my teammate next to me was like, ‘You see what they’re wearing?’ I look over there and saw nothing but orange wigs! The whole student section had orange wigs on.”

“After that game, one of the student section guys gave my teammate one of the wigs on our way in,” he told Complex. “We got in the locker room, and he was like, ‘I got a surprise for you.’ He handed it to me, and I was like, ‘Nah, no way.'”

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