Greg Hardy’s popularity, or lack thereof, won’t hasten his return to professional football.
Fans of the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles prevented the former NFL defensive lineman from joining the Indoor Football League team Thursday by a narrow vote, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell. Hardy and Screaming Eagles management were ready to agree to a contract, but the team asked for fans to sanction his arrival by electronic ballot.
“Results on the team app … (were) a virtual 50-50 tie, but an undisclosed percentage-point margin put a trophy icon next to ‘no.’,” Rovell writes.
So instead of playing for the Screaming Eagles on Friday against the Colorado Crush, Hardy will remain outside the gridiron looking in.
The 28-year-old spent five seasons with Carolina Panthers and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl in 2013. But his career derailed in 2014 following his domestic violence arrest. He played only one game that season due to suspension, and the Panthers subsequently released him. The Dallas Cowboys signed Hardy in 2015 after his case was thrown out during the appeal process, but his stint in Texas lasted just 12 games.
Hardy missed the 2016 NFL season as an unsigned free agent.
Apparently, that also could be the case for the 2017 Indoor Football League season, which will run through mid-July.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
