Donald Ray Hardeman (August 13, 1952 – June 2, 2016) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He has 5 sons, Don Hardeman Jr. (Hou), Eric Hardeman (Hou), Cedric Hardeman (Hou), Demetrius Hardeman (DC) and David Hardeman (NY). Hardeman played five seasons with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

and the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

. In his short career, he scored eleven

rushing Rushing means a sudden forward motion, or a surge or onslaught. Rushing may refer to: Tactics * Rush (gridiron football), advancing the ball by running on offense. On defense, charging the quarterback or kicker is a pass rush. * Human wave atta ...

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s and

caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the catch ...

two more. He rushed for 1,460 yards on 397 attempts and caught 58 passes for 285 yards. He was selected in the first round of the

1975 NFL draft The 1975 NFL draft was held January 28–29, 1975, at the New York Hilton at Rockefeller Center in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Steve Bartkowski. Player selectio ...

by the Oilers and attended Texas A&I University. He attended

Killeen High School Killeen High School is a public high school located in Killeen, Texas and classified as a 6A school by the University Interscholastic League. It is one of six high schools in the Killeen Independent School District, which is located in western B ...

in Killeen, Texas. He died in Temple, Texas in 2016.

References

External links

Player profile and statistics at NFL.com
1952 births 2016 deaths Players of American football from Killeen, Texas Players of American football from Temple, Texas American football running backs Texas A&M–Kingsville Javelinas football players Houston Oilers players Baltimore Colts players Texas A&I University alumni 20th-century American sportsmen {{runningback-1950s-stub