One-Time SDSU Star Coming Back : Hardy’s Pro Career May Be Revived With New League

Less than two years ago, he carried the football 33 times in one game, gaining 145 yards against Texas El Paso as the San Diego State fans cheered a 15-10 victory.

Two days ago, Chris Hardy had just run three 30-yard sprints at maybe 80%. But he was sucking air, sitting on the hood of his old and rusty car. No one was cheering.

Hardy, like many of his teammates on the San Diego Thunder, is resuscitating his dream of playing football for a living--assuming that the World Indoor Football League materializes as planned this summer.

The dream nearly was quashed last summer when the Rams cut Hardy, who had tried to make the team as a free agent. But he had received a taste of professional football--he returned a kickoff against Denver at Wembley Stadium in London and played in two other exhibition games--and that taste lingers.

“I said, ‘No, this is definitely not it,’ ” recalled Hardy, 23. “I wasn’t going to quit. I figured I was too talented to quit. I’m too young to have already given up now. I just love football, and I miss the cheers, too.

“This will be a chance for me to get into the NFL. There will be scouts at these games.”

Hardy is one of 30 players vying for 17 spots. The final cut is June 13.

“He has a good chance,” said Thunder Coach Don Matthews, who would employ Hardy as a slot receiver or running back. “He can catch the ball, and he runs routes well.”

Players earn $500 a game. That is enticing to a young man 40 units shy of his degree in criminal justice. Said Hardy, who manages his grandfather’s liquor store in Bonita: “I need the money.”

But if we know why, the question remains, why here? Why would a seemingly sane young running back consider a sport in which the playing surface is as hard as your bathtub and as spacious as your living room?

Although there will be only seven defenders (against eight on offense), the field is to be no more than 73 yards long and 29 yards wide. Hardy is used to dimensions of 100 by 53. Also, there are those pleasant sideboards about one yard outside the sidelines.

“It’s going to be a painful game,” he said. “Lots of helmets will be going off. This is going to be, get the pass and turn it up fast. You can’t really go around someone because someone else will be there. But you can’t be thinking about all that. Pain is part of the game.”

At Clairemont High--which he helped to win the San Diego Section title in 1982--and at San Diego State--where he earned honorable mention All-American status in 1985 and 1986 and became the school’s second all-time rusher, behind Norm Nygaard (1952-54)--Hardy displayed soft hands and a knack for spinning off defenders. But he weighed too much, he says, and has dropped 15 pounds to 180.

His stint with the Rams taught him that “heart” and “quickness” lead to success in pro football. That should apply to the WIFL, too, he said. But with the WIFL, nobody knows.

“I didn’t even know about this league two months ago,” Hardy said. “I was reading the newspaper late at night, laying in bed. There it was, WIFL.

“I just can’t wait to see how it is when the season starts. It’s so different. I just want to see how it works out. God, I see guys getting smashed up, everybody in this small box: 100 points! There goes Hardy for 10 touchdowns! Davis for 7! In this league, it’s not going to be your name, but whether you can play.”