Annual Pigskin Poets Event a Hit with Local Youngsters

Friday was all about making good reads for the South Carolina football freshmen. The Gamecocks took part in their annual Pigskin Poets community service reading event hosted by the Richland County Library at the Drew Wellness Center in Columbia. The student-athletes took time off from workouts to read to local youths and sign autographs.

“It’s always good to give back and inspire these kids,” said freshman linebacker Grayson Howard. “It’s great when an hour out of our day is going to make their week or year of their life. You couldn’t ask for a better Friday! They gave us the books before. Nyck Harbor and I went over the motions we were going to do for it. We wanted to make it fun for us and for the kids.”

“Anything where you’re giving back to the community is a good thing,” said freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers. “You can give kids some inspiration. I’ll always want to be part of something like that.”

The Gamecocks entered the facility to raucous applause from several hundred youngsters, and the student-athletes seemed just as excited as their young fans.

“There were a lot of smiles and a lot of happy faces,” Sellers said. “It’s bigger than us. We’re doing it for the community.”

“It was nice knowing that made their day, and it was fun for us also,” Howard said. “It was fun to see everyone interact with the kids. Giving back is one of our goals as a freshman class, and this was just one step in the mile we’re going to take. As long as they’re smiling, we’re happy.”

More than two dozen of the Gamecocks took part in the event, and Cocky was also on hand.