In football and life, the key to moving forward and getting better is continually finding ways to improve yourself. Focus on what you need to work on and embrace what you are good at. A Chicago Bears player who perfectly embodies this mentality is third-year defensive end and special teams ace Daniel Hardy. Hardy was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Montana State University.
Hardy’s Motivating Story
Daniel Hardy was born in 1998 in Portland, Oregon as one of eight siblings. He attended high school at Valley Catholic in Beaverton, OR where he was an all-star in basketball. He didn’t play high school football until his senior year when he earned all-state honors in football as a wide receiver and linebacker. Hardy chose to pursue football and began his collegiate playing career at a community college in Northern California called College of the Siskiyous in 2017.
One of the primary reasons he chose this school was to be closer to his father who had recently been diagnosed with kidney cancer. His father, Reverend Dr. Wilbert Gail Hardy, passed away on February 2, 2018. While he was a true freshman linebacker for the Siskiyous Eagles, he recorded 66 total tackles, 12.5 TFL, nine sacks, and three FF – good enough to get him recruited out of the junior college ranks by Jeff Choate, the former Head Coach of Montana State University.
Hardy transferred to Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana to become a Bobcat in 2018. The Bobcats are an FBS program that competes in the Big-Sky Conference and last won a National Championship in 1984. There, Hardy played as a linebacker and special teamer for two seasons playing in 26 games amassing 23 total tackles, six tackles for loss, and two sacks.
Hardy’s Transformation
In 2020, the Big Sky Conference canceled all football games due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Daniel Hardy used his redshirt season that year and worked relentlessly to improve himself and his game. Motivated by his father’s influence, Daniel Hardy put on muscle mass and gained weight, improved his explosiveness and speed, and increased his strength and flexibility. The Bobcats also had an impactful coaching change before Hardy’s senior year.
The defense changed from a 3-4 scheme where he played as an upright outside linebacker, to a 4-3 scheme where he switched to playing defensive end with his hand in the dirt. During his senior season at MSU, Daniel Hardy went nuclear in his new position registering 16 sacks, 24 tackles for loss, 77 total tackles, three passes defended, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. His performance earned him First Team All-Big Sky and Second Team All-America honors, putting him in the ranks with the all-time great MSU Bobcat defenders.
Though it wasn’t enough to earn him an invite to the NFL Combine, he wowed scouts with the numbers he put up at MSU Pro Day with a 40-inch vertical jump, 22 reps on the bench press, a 10’7″ broad jump, and a 4.60 40-yard dash.
Hardy’s NFL Journey
In addition to his impressive statistics, Daniel Hardy became a team leader for the MSU Bobcat defense in his senior season, influencing the LA Rams to invest in Daniel Hardy in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Upon being drafted by the Rams, Hardy suffered an ankle injury in training camp that kept him sidelined until week 13 when he made his NFL debut against the Seattle Seahawks. In 2022, Hardy played 41 snaps on defense and 128 on special teams in six games his rookie year. In 2023, the Rams waived him after training camp and just two days later the Chicago Bears signed him to their practice squad.
In 2024, Daniel Hardy notched up his hustle and work ethic, impressing the Chicago Bears coaching staff in practice and performing admirably in preseason games. Hardy quickly became a favorite player of the fans and coaches and earned a spot on the 53-man roster for the Chicago Bears to start the season.
Though Daniel Hardy has only played ten snaps on defense through six games, he’s been a major special teams contributor playing 127 snaps, highlighted by his blocked punt against the Tennessee Titans. It was returned for a touchdown by teammate Jonathan Owens. Hardy forced a fumble against the Jaguars in week 6 and has five total tackles on the season.
Final Thoughts
Daniel Hardy is a model of hard work, relentless pursuit of one’s goals through adversity, and proof that a kid from a small town who went to small schools can make the American Dream come true. As the season goes on, Hardy will only get better as a player and will get more opportunities as the long season wears on. No matter the outcome of his endeavors on the field, his father would be immensely proud of the man he has become, the way he has helped others around him, and the tremendous hard work he has put in to get to where he is in life. Hardy couldn’t be a better person and player to root for.
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