Kevin Hardy (linebacker)

Kevin Lamont Hardy (born July 24, 1973 in Evansville, Indiana) is a former American football player. Hardy played nine seasons as a linebacker in the National Football League for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, and Cincinnati Bengals.

High school

Hardy graduated from William Henry Harrison High School in Evansville, Indiana, where he received numerous awards and accolades for football. Hardy was an honor roll student, and also played basketball and ran track. Hardy's basketball teammates in high school included Calbert Cheaney, an All-American at Indiana, and Walter McCarty, who played at Kentucky and Chris Lowery who played for and now is the head coach at Southern Illinois University.

College football

Hardy attended the University of Illinois, as a business major, where he played Big Ten football, and became a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. In his senior season of 1995, Hardy was named the winner of the Dick Butkus Award, given to the top linebacker in college football, and was also a consensus All-American.

During his time at Illinois, the Fighting Illini had a number of quality linebackers. In the 1994 season, the four linebackers in coach Lou Tepper's 3-4 defense where Hardy, fellow Butkus Award winner Dana Howard, future NFL player John Holecek, and Simeon Rice. Because of this, Hardy was often overlooked as a linebacker. At his position, he was not prolific in accumulating tackles like Howard, who played in the middle, nor was prolific in quarterback sacks, as was Rice, who as a "rush linebacker" played on the line of scrimmage like a defensive end. Despite this, Hardy's athletic ability stood out, and by his senior season, he was recognized as being among the very best linebackers in college football.

Hardy finished his collegiate career ranking ninth on the Illinois all-time list with 330 tackles, fourth in sacks with 18, and fourth in tackles for loss with 38.

Professional football

Jacksonville Jaguars

Hardy was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the second overall selection in the 1996 NFL Draft, signing a six-year $14.8 million dollar contract with a six million dollar signing bonus. Hardy's fellow linebacker at Illinois, Simeon Rice, was chosen with the third overall selection. Hardy played six seasons for the Jaguars, which included four trips to the NFL playoffs. Hardy was named to the NFL All-Rookie team in 1996. In 1998, Hardy set the Jaguars team record with 186 tackles. Hardy led all AFC linebackers with 10.5 sacks in 1999, and again led the Jaguars in tackles with 153. His play helped lead the Jaguars to a 14-win season, and Hardy was selected to the Pro Bowl as well as named to the AP All-Pro first team. In 2001, Hardy injured his knee in the ninth game of the season, his last game with the Jaguars.

Dallas Cowboys

Hardy signed with the Dallas Cowboys on April 14, 2002 as an unrestricted free agent, receiving a one-year, $2.5 million dollar contract. Hardy recovered from his injury and played for the Dallas Cowboys in the 2002 NFL season. Hardy finished the season ranking third on the Cowboys in both total (114) and solo tackles (73), and also recorded two quarterback sacks. Hardy played outside linebacker, and also lined up as a defensive end in some passing downs.

Cincinnati Bengals

Hardy signed a four year, $14 million USD contract with the Cincinnati Bengals as an unrestricted free agent on March 6, 2003, to be the Bengals new middle linebacker, after playing outside linebacker with the Jaguars and Cowboys.^[1] Hardy played for the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2003 and 2004 NFL seasons. Hardy was an integral part of the Bengals' defense in 2003, starting all 16 games and leading the team in defensive snaps played (1030 of 1038, for 99.2%). Hardy also led the team in tackles in 2003 with 124. He started 14 games in the 2004 season. The Bengals terminated Hardy's contract on May 3, 2005.^[2] Hardy finished his career with 742 tackles(563 solo), 36 sacks, 43.5 tackles for loss, 11 forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, 45 pass deflections, five interceptions for 59 yards, and one touchdown in 134 games.

After football

Kevin currently resides in his first NFL home of Jacksonville, Florida. In August 2007, Kevin built his South Beach club venture, Dream Nightclub, centered around a motto that "reality is overrated." "I've been around and entertained people all my life, so I made a business out of it" says Hardy

References

• Goheen, Kevin (2003-07-31). "Hardy prepared to be the man in the middle". The Cincinnati Post (E. W. Scripps Company). Archived from the original on 2005-02-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20050211200553/http://www.cincypost.com/bengals/2003/beng07-31-2003.html. 
• Hardy Patiently Waits for a Call
• NFLPlayers.com bio
• June 2009 issue, Miami

External links

• NFL.com statistics
• ESPN.com player card