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Bucs' Gholston repays a favor, with interest

 
Will Gholston
Will Gholston
Published April 13, 2015

Mohamed Gabasha was working at the BP gas station at Eight Mile Road and Greenfield Road Friday night in Detroit when a familiar face walked in to say thanks for an act of kindness five years ago.

Bucs defensive end Will Gholston, who grew up in Detroit and played at Michigan State, had run out of gas on the John C. Lodge Freeway as a high school senior, and had walked to the gas station, with no money. Gabasha gave him a container of gas and drove him to his car, not expecting to see him again.

"He was stuck on the Lodge and didn't have any money on him," Gabasha recalled. "He came in and sat down. We looked at him, tall kid, humble, quiet, and thought 'Something's going on here, you know.' He wasn't begging or anything. He was stuck. We asked, 'You okay?' and he told us his story. There was something about him, where you wanted to help him out."

Gholston's family still lives nearby and comes into the station occasionally, and he stopped in himself Friday night to say thanks, giving Gabasha $100 to pay him back with interest.

"It was amazing, how he actually came back," said Gabasha, who has helped other customers that way but has never had one come back to say thanks. "He just said 'Thank you for that day.' It was really, really nice."

Gabasha, 31, took a cellphone video with Gholston, 23. Gabasha's cousin, Younis Shariff, posted a note on Reddit with the video, which was picked up by national sports blog thebiglead.com.

"I'm a big fan of the Tampa 2 and was a really big fan of the Bucs when they won their championship," Gabasha said. "I'm a big fan of (receiver Mike) Evans. He's going to be one of the best. I was so disappointed the Lions couldn't draft him."