April 29, 2005

University of Illinois former football All-American and current Cincinnati Bengal linebacker Kevin Hardy returned to campus last weekend to make a $300,000 gift to the athletic department, an endowment that will annually fund one of the starting linebacker position scholarships. Hardy, who becomes the first current NFL player from Illinois to fully fund a scholarship, presented a ceremonial check to head football coach Ron Zook and I Fund assistant director Mike Hatfield at the 2005 Orange and Blue spring game.

The scholarship reads "The Kevin Hardy Family Endowment," and will provide in perpetuity the annual financial support for one of the three starting linebackers at Illinois. Hardy, the 1995 Butkus Award winner, was also a consensus first-team All-American for the Illini that same season. He finished his career as a 45-game starter, ranking fifth on the school's all-time list for tackles for loss with 38. Donning the number 51, Hardy totaled 326 tackles in his four-year career. In 1996, he was the second player taken in the NFL draft and has since spent 10 years with the Jacksonville, Dallas and Cincinnati organizations. Hardy presented the gift along with his wife, Terrie and son Langston.

"Kevin Hardy has had an extraordinary college and professional career and has been a classy ambassador for the University of Illinois during the last decade in the National Football League," said Shawn Wax, Associate Athletic Director for Resource Development. "This gift of an endowed football scholarship is typical Kevin Hardy, raising the bar as he has always done as a great athlete and solid person. Kevin's message at halftime of the Orange and Blue Spring Game of giving back in a significant way to his alma mater while still playing professionally was strong and to the point and it was great to see the reaction of our current Fighting Illini student-athletes. This gift symbolizes the tradition we've been able to establish at Illinois among our professional athletes giving back to the University."