Greg Hardy, still out of NFL, signs on with indoor football team

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer
Greg Hardy, shown at a 2014 practice, has signed on with an indoor football team. (AP)
Greg Hardy, shown at a 2014 practice, has signed on with an indoor football team. (AP)

Greg Hardy hasn’t given up his football career. It just won’t be continuing in the NFL, not yet anyway.

Hardy became an infamous figure in the NFL. He missed all but one game of the 2014 season with the Carolina Panthers after a domestic violence accusation. He signed on with the Dallas Cowboys, but was suspended and was a constant distraction in his lone season with the Cowboys. He hasn’t been on an NFL team since.

Hardy is dabbling in MMA but hasn’t given up football. He has signed on with the Richmond Roughriders of the Professional Indoor Football League. Hardy will presumably be the best player in the league. He had 26 sacks his final two full seasons with the Panthers in 2012 and 2013.

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Presumably Hardy still has hopes of making it back in the NFL. It’s doubtful he’s going to play a year in a small indoor league for the thrill of that. Hardy is only 29 years old, but the reported details of his domestic violence accusation and his disruptive year with the Cowboys has made him toxic in NFL circles. It’s hard to believe a year in an arena league would turn that around, but teams often overlook red flags because they need a pass rusher.

The Roughriders, partially owned by rapper Jim Jones, obviously don’t mind the baggage.

“That man is a best,” Jones told TMZ. “He’s not one of the regular players. He’s one of the best in his craft.”

It’s hard to believe Hardy playing in the arena league could rehabilitate his image and salvage his NFL career, given that nobody has signed him for two years. But he’ll try.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!