The versatile Dakereon Joyner, a South Carolina fan favorite, hopes for a shot in NFL

Dakereon Joyner has shown resilience and toughness during his high school career at Fort Dorchester and later on at South Carolina.

NFL scouts got to see Joyner’s toughness on Tuesday at South Carolina’s Pro Day. During his first attempt at running the 40-yard dash, Joyner grabbed his hamstring near the end of the run, possibly signaling an early end to his day.

But Joyner kept trying to loosen up the hamstring he’d injured in January so he could complete his workout for the 32 teams in attendance. He returned to the field later on in the workout and was catching passes coming out of the backfield from quarterback Spencer Rattler.

“I was going to run really, really fast but I am all right though,” Joyner told reporters after the workout. “Everything else that I did really well. I know who I am and I have been through all kinds of adversity. I just wanted to go out and show what I could do. I got a lot of props from the scouts for finishing.”

Joyner was a fan favorite at South Carolina and endeared himself to the Gamecock community for sticking it out during his six-year career, which included playing quarterback, receiver and running back and going through a coaching change.

Joyner was MVP for the Gamecocks in 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl by making a surprise start at quarterback despite playing a majority of that season as a receiver. He went 9-of-9 for 160 yards, one touchdown and rushed for 64 yards in the 38-21 win over North Carolina.

Joyner finished his career with more than 1,400 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns.

“I tell my buddies who are big Gamecock fans that he might be one of the best Gamecocks ever,” said Steve LaPrad, Joyner’s high school coach at Fort Dorchester. “He is just different. He is just a special guy, a team guy. He always makes things happen and makes everyone better. He has intangibles the NFL is looking for. He is so versatile.”

Joyner had about 15 friends and family members watching at Pro Day, including his daughter Kahlani. After Joyner finished, he slipped under the ropes where his family and friends were and immediately picked up his daughter as he talked with others before meeting with reporters.

LaPrad said Joyner asked him to come to Columbia and watch him. This wasn’t the first combine-like setting LaPrad watched Joyner participate in. He remembers watching him go through drills at a small middle school combine as a seventh-grader, pushing an 100-pound dummy across the field with ease.

“He was a basketball guy but he came to a little combine we had in the seventh grade but I told him this day would come,” LaPrad said. “As a coach, you kind of stupid to say those things because they are so young. But I knew this cat was going to make it.”

Joyner is looking to become the latest former Fort Dorchester standout to land in the NFL, joining the likes of Byron Maxwell, Carlos Dunlap, Robert Quinn and John Simpson, who just signed a free agent deal with the New York Jets after playing last season with the Baltimore Ravens.

LaPrad compared Joyner’s plight with that of Tracy White, who played at Timberland High School and later coached with him at Fort Dorchester. White was an undrafted linebacker coming out of Howard University and went on to play 11 years in the NFL, including the last three seasons with the New England Patriots.

“I told him if he just gets a crack in the door. He will run through it and make it,” LaPrad said.

Joyner has spent the last 12 weeks training in Atlanta with USC teammate Ahmarean Brown. The two were part of 15 current Gamecocks at Tuesday’s Pro Day that had a lot of attention Rattler and receiver Xavier Legette, who are expected to be the first two Gamecocks picked in this year’s NFL Draft.

Joyner said he has talked to nine different clubs so far in the process. Teams like him as a running back, but he can play multiple positions and brought up New Orleans’ Taysom Hill and San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel. Hill has played both quarterback and tight end for the Saints and Samuel, the former USC great, is one of the top weapons in the NFL as a receiver and running back.

“I can do a lot of things,” Joyner said. “... I’m a dog. I got that team-first mentality and am going to go get it done whatever it takes.”