When you look at the long list of linebackers that have played at the University of Illinois, there are a few that stand out above the rest.
Names like Butkus, Brownlow, Burrell, Leman and Studwell come to mind. In recent years, some more names have been added to the list as the Fighting Illini Hall of Fame classes have been announced.
Kevin Hardy is the latest linebacker to be added to the list, as he and fourteen other former Fighting Illini standouts to be honored with the distinction.
Hardy, who played for Illinois from 1992-1995, excelled on the field, and after redshirting his freshman year, went on to have a stellar career for the Fighting Illini in an era that saw the team go to two bowl games under head coach Lou Tepper.
Hardy formed college football’s top duo in 1995 with fellow linebacker Simeon Rice, cementing Illinois’ reputation of “Linebacker U”. Hardy was named the Butkus Award winner in 1995, an award that is named for Illini great Dick Butkus who is perhaps the greatest linebacker in college football history.
Hardy, who joined the media on a teleconference on Wednesday to discuss the honor, was surprised for a minute when athletic director Josh Whitman called to inform him of his induction but knew that this day would possibly one day come.
“Initially, I wondered why he (Whitman) was calling me, but after catching up a bit with him, he informed me that I was being inducted into the Illinois Hall of Fame,” Hardy said. It’s very humbling to be honored like this, and where I thought that this day one day would arrive, until you officially get the call, you just never know.”
Hardy finished his Illini career ranked ninth on the all-time UI list with 330 tackles, fourth in sacks with 18, and fourth in tackles for loss with 18.
Hardy was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars second overall in the 1996 NFL Draft, one spot ahead of Rice. Hardy wasn’t sure he would be picked ahead of Rice, who chose to stay for his final season instead of testing the NFL waters a year earlier.
“He (Rice) wasn’t sure what he was going to do, and finally asked me what I was going to do. When I told him my plans, he said he was coming back instead of turning pro. He probably would have been selected number one overall his junior year, but he said that he would be selected that high after his senior year and wanted to do something special with me,” Hardy added regarding his relationship with Rice and the formidable duo that they formed as Illini teammates.
Hardy knew he would be selected in the first round, as the New York Giants told him they planned to take him with the fifth overall pick. Hardy added that the Jaguars interest took him by surprise, as they were the only team that didn’t offer him a visit.
Hardy had a solid professional career with the Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals, leading Jacksonville in tackles with 149 in 2000. He became the Jaguars’ first rookie to start on defense on opening day and went on to be named to the All-Rookie team in 1996.
Hardy was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1999 and helped Jacksonville to a 14-win season that year. A native of Evansville, Indiana, he played high school basketball with a star-studded group that included Calbert Cheaney, who was an All-American at Indiana, Walter McCarty, who went on to play at Kentucky, and former Illini assistant Chris Lowery, who is now with Bruce Weber at Kansas State.
Under Tepper, who was a defensive-minded coach, worked his 3-4 defense to perfection with Hardy, Rice, Dana Howard and John Holecek as the four linebackers in that scheme. All but Holecek are now in the Illinois Hall of Fame.
“Dana and John helped me be the player that I am today, and I’m glad that I was able to play with them,” Hardy said. “I remember their last game was a 30-0 win over East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, and it was great to see them end their Illini careers with a win in a bowl game.”
Hardy retired from the NFL in 2004 and ventured into the nightclub business, owning a couple of clubs in the Miami Beach area. After doing that for a few years, Hardy finally retired for good in 2017 and is enjoying life in Jacksonville, raising two boys (ages 16 and 14), and being an assistant coach at a high school in Jacksonville where one of his boys plays.
Regarding his nightclub venture after retirement from the league, it was a good process for him.
“I was lucky enough to surround myself with some good people, and that business is one that is tough to navigate at times, but we made it work,” Hardy said. “Now, I live in a community in Jacksonville on a golf course that has boating capabilities, so I’m enjoying the full effects of retirement life these days.”
Hardy joins fellow Illini football players Moe Gardner and Ray Nitschke as a group that become the fourteenth to be named to the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame.
The official Hall of Fame induction is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18, at State Farm Center when the incoming class will be honored in an event that is free and open to the public. In a change to the annual Fighting Illini schedule, the induction ceremony will fall on Varsity I Weekend when all former Illini are invited back to campus.
