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Why a Hall of Fame receiver paid a visit to South Carolina football program

The South Carolina football team got a visit from a Hall of Famer on Wednesday.

Former Detroit Lions All-Pro receiver Calvin Johnson paid a visit to the Gamecocks and spoke with the team. USC players posted pictures with the soon-to-be inducted Hall of Famer on social media.

Johnson has some ties to members of the Gamecock football program. Derrick Moore, USC’s Executive Director of Character and Player Development, was a chaplain at Georgia Tech when Johnson was a player there.

Johnson and USC Director of On Campus recruiting Jessica Jackson both went to Sandy Creek High School in Georgia.

“Calvin Johnson in our great football facility today presenting to our football student-athletes. Headed to the Hall Of Fame in August and I am honored to PRESENT him!! ONE OF THE HIGHEST HONORS OF MY LIFE!!!” Moore posted on Twitter.

Johnson said in a recent interview with ESPN the impact that Moore had on him during his life.

“Derrick poured into me so much as a man when I was at Georgia Tech, and I’ll never forget it,” Johnson told ESPN. “Those moments that I had there kind of helped propel me, obviously on top of what my parents instilled in me, too, was kind of compounded and led me into being here today.”

Johnson was selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January on his first try and will be enshrined in August during a ceremony in Canton, Ohio.

Johnson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, played all of his nine seasons with the Lions. He finished his career with 731 catches for 11,619 yards with 83 touchdowns.