James W. Hardy III (December 24, 1985 – c. June 7, 2017) 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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

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 was selected by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in the second round of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

and also played for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

Early life

James Hardy was born and raised in

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 United S ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. He attended Elmhurst High School where he was a star athlete in

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. He received an athletic scholarship for football at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. At Elmhurst High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Hardy played

and basketball. As a senior, he posted 34 catches for 710 yards and 10

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 was a Class 4A all-state selection by the Indiana Football Coaches Association. As a basketball player, he was runner-up in the Indiana "Mr. Basketball" award voting and an Indiana All-Star. He ranks high on the list for the city scoring record for Fort Wayne, with over 2,000 points during his four years at Elmhurst. Hardy led Elmhurst to a state championship appearance his junior year. However, Elmhurst was defeated by Bishop Chatard High School from

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. His

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year, he led Elmhurst to a sectional championship, but later was defeated by Bellmont High School in the regional finals. Hardy was also a two-time winner of the Tiffany Gooden Award, awarded annually to the most outstanding male or female basketball player in the SAC.

College career

Hardy

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

in 2004. As a redshirt freshman in 2005, he posted 61 catches for 893 yards and 10 touchdowns. His play earned him a Freshman All-American selection. As a sophomore, he caught 51 passes for 722 yards and 10 touchdowns and was named Second-team All-Big Ten for a second straight year. His 20 career receiving touchdowns in his first two years had tied him with Ernie Jones (1984–1987) for second on the university's all-time list, trailing only Jade Butcher (1967–1969) and his 30 career TD grabs. As a junior, Hardy caught 74 passes for 1,075 yards—ranking third in the Big Ten in both categories—and became the Hoosiers' all-time receiving leader in touchdowns (36), yards (2,690) and receptions (186). He was selected first-team All-Big Ten selection, a

Fred Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

semifinalist and the team's most valuable player. During his time at Indiana, Hardy also played on the

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

for one season. In January 2008, Hardy declared himself eligible for the

, saying "I have reached the pinnacle of my

career."

Professional career

Pre-draft

At the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, Hardy was a top 10 performer in the bench press, broad jump, 3-cone drill, and 20-yard shuttle. In the bench press, Hardy finished ninth among wide receivers with 18 reps at . He finished 8th in the broad jump with a distance of . He finished 7th in the 3-cone drill with a time of 6.84 seconds. He also finished tied for seventh in the 20-yard shuttle with a time of 4.20 seconds. Official 40-yard dash time was 4.49.

Buffalo Bills

Hardy was selected by the

in the second round (41st overall) of the

. He signed a multi-year contract with the team on July 24. On September 14, 2008, in his second game, Hardy caught his first touchdown late in a win against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

. He finished the campaign with nine catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Hardy played in two games in 2009, catching one pass for nine yards. On September 4, 2010, he was released by the Bills.

Baltimore Ravens

On January 17, 2011, Hardy was signed to a reserve/future contract by the

. He practiced little with the Ravens during the 2011 training camp due to chronic hamstring problems, the same injury that nagged him while with the Bills. He was released by the Ravens on September 5, 2011.

Post-football career

After the NFL, Hardy turned his attention to Hollywood, where he pursued a career in modeling and acting.

Personal problems and death

On May 4, 2014, Hardy was arrested on felony charges following a dispute at his home in Los Angeles, in which a visibly drugged Hardy attacked police officers responding to a disturbing the peace call. In November 2014, it was reported a judge deemed Hardy unfit for trial and remanded him to a mental facility. On June 7, 2017, Hardy's body was found lodged in a dam in the

Maumee River The Maumee River (pronounced ) (; ) is a river running in the Midwestern United States from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph River (Maumee River), St. Joseph and St. Mar ...

in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was 31 years old. On July 18, his death was ruled a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

, by way of

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

from drowning.

References

External links

*
Biography
at the Buffalo Bills website

at CSTV.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, James 1985 births 2017 deaths 2017 suicides American football wide receivers Arizona Rattlers players Basketball players from Fort Wayne, Indiana Baltimore Ravens players Buffalo Bills players Indiana Hoosiers football players Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Players of American football from Fort Wayne, Indiana Small forwards Tampa Bay Storm players American men's basketball players Suicides by drowning in the United States Suicides in Indiana