College Football
Hardy attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and played for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team from 1992 to 1995. Hardy was a business major, and was initiated as 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 recognized as a consensus first-team All-American.
During his time at Illinois, the Fighting Illini had a number of outstanding linebackers. In the 1994 season, the four linebackers in coach Lou Tepper's 3-4 defense were 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.
Read more about this topic: Kevin Hardy (linebacker)
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