Kevin Hardy (linebacker)
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Kevin Lamont Hardy (born July 24, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, and Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Early years
Hardy attended William Henry Harrison High School, where he received numerous awards and accolades as a high school football player.
As a senior, he posted 127 tackles (47 solo), 2 interceptions, 32 receptions for 610 yards and 13 touchdowns, 55 carries for 410 yards, returned 6 punts for 42 yards and 15 kickoffs for 344 yards. He received All-Evansville, City Player of the Year, All-Southern Indiana and Conference and Region Player of the Year honors.
He also was a cum laude
.College career
Hardy accepted a football scholarship from the
As a sophomore, he started all 11 games at "drop" linebacker. He totaled 78 tackles (fourth on the team), 2 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 2 passes defensed and one forced fumble.
As a junior, he registered 80 tackles (8 for loss), one sack, 2 interceptions and one pass defensed. During his time at Illinois, the Fighting Illini had a number of outstanding linebackers. In the 1994 season, the four linebackers in coach
As a senior, he was recognized as being among the very best linebackers in college football, winning the
Hardy finished his career ranked ninth on the Illinois All-time list with 330 tackles, fourth in sacks with 18, and fourth in tackles for loss with 38. He was a business major and was initiated as a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Professional football
Jacksonville Jaguars
Hardy was selected by the
Hardy became the first defensive rookie in franchise history to start on opening day, going on to start 15 games at
In
In
In 1999, Hardy led all AFC linebackers with 10.5 sacks and led the team with 153 tackles. He also had 7 tackles for loss, 24 quarterback hurries, 2 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, helping the Jaguars achieve a 14-win season. He was named to the AP All-Pro first-team. He joined Carnell Lake ad Tony Brackens as the first Jaguars defensive players named to the Pro Bowl. He had 16 tackles against the Cleveland Browns. He made 13 tackles, 4 quarterback hurries and one forced fumble against the Cincinnati Bengals.
In 2000, he registered 149 tackles (led the team), 3 sacks, 16 quarterback pressures, 6 tackles for loss, one interception, 16 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. He had 11 tackles and one sack against the New York Giants.
In
Dallas Cowboys
On April 14,
Hardy recovered from his injury and played for the Cowboys in the
Cincinnati Bengals
On March 6,
In
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.
NFL statistics
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Comb | Solo | Ast | Sack | FF | FR | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | |||
1996 | JAX | 16 | 84 | 62 | 22 | 5.5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 13 | 0 | 7 |
1997 | JAX | 13 | 56 | 48 | 8 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1998 | JAX | 16 | 110 | 86 | 24 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 24 | 0 | 8 |
1999 | JAX | 16 | 97 | 73 | 24 | 10.5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2000 | JAX | 16 | 85 | 73 | 12 | 3.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
2001 | JAX | 9 | 69 | 56 | 13 | 5.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
2002 | DAL | 16 | 75 | 60 | 15 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
2003 | CIN | 16 | 91 | 58 | 33 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
2004 | CIN | 16 | 69 | 42 | 27 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Career[9] | 134 | 736 | 558 | 178 | 36.0 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 59 | 11.8 | 24 | 0 | 45 |
Postseason
Year | Team | GP | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Comb | Solo | Ast | Sack | FF | FR | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | |||
1996 | JAX | 3 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1997 | JAX | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1998 | JAX | 2 | 26 | 20 | 6 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1999 | JAX | 2 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Career | 8 | 69 | 55 | 14 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Personal life
Hardy currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida. In August 2007, he 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" said Hardy. In 2019, Hardy listed his 7 bedroom, 8.5 bath, 10,000 square foot Jacksonville mansion for sale at a price of $3,175,000.[10]
References
- ^ "1996 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ "Kevin Hardy, Tony Brackens highlight Jaguars' best draft class". 25 April 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- ^ "Knee Sidelines Jaguars LB Hardy". Associated Press. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- ^ "Al Johnson offers hope on Spencer return". 25 September 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- ^ "Cowboys sign linebacker Hardy". Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- ^ "Bengals bolster defense with Thornton, Hardy". Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- ^ "Lewis attempts to add youth to linebacker unit". 3 May 2005. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- NFL.com. Archived from the originalon January 15, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- ^ "Kevin Hardy Stats". ESPN. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ "Former Jaguars Star Kevin Hardy is selling his massive Florida estate, let's take a look". 9 October 2019.
External links
- ESPN.com player card
- Goheen, Kevin (July 31, 2003). "Hardy prepared to be the man in the middle". The Cincinnati Post. E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on 2005-02-11.