Langston Moore was born and raised in Charleston, but he now is helping this generation of South Carolinian children to look beyond their current surroundings.

Moore, who was the Bengals’ sixth-round draft pick in 2003, has teamed with former University of South Carolina teammate Preston Thorne to write three children’s books. They have made it their mission to travel around The Palmetto State and speak to young grammar school and middle school youngsters.

“We want to tell kids there is nothing wrong with being well-read, well-spoken, and well-written,” Moore recently was quoted in The Athletic. “A lot of times we tell the kids these abilities are going to be your superpowers where you can go out and make a bunch of money—or at least go out there and give yourself an opportunity to do so.”

Moore spent a good part of his after-school youth in tap dance class because his mother would not allow him to play football. However, in the eighth grade, he was approached after a baseball game by a football coach who spotted his athletic potential.

“ ‘Man, you’re a big guy,’” Moore recalls the coach telling him. “’Did you ever think about playing football?’ I had completely forgotten about football being an option because there always was a ‘No’ from my Mom. With the help of the coach, Mom relented and from there it was nothing else but football for the next 20 or so years.”

After being drafted in 2003, Moore played two seasons with the Bengals, one year with the Cardinals, and finished his NFL career with  a three-year stint in Detroit.

The titles of Moore’s three illustrated children’s books are “Just A Chicken”, “Just A Chicken Little”, and “USTA Wuz A Rooster”. He and his co-author began selling books at South Carolina football games and then were invited to begin visits to schools. They use their own stories to give the young students a dose of athletic reality. Thorne never played NFL ball due to injuries and Moore likes to joke that he was an overall number one NFL draft pick…in the SIXTH round.

We at NFL Alumni are pleased to see Langston Moore giving back to his South Carolina community. His impact, perhaps, is being felt more in the school assemblies than it was on the field as a player. That’s a GOOD thing!