Bruce Alan Hardy (born June 1, 1956 in

Murray, Utah Murray () is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Houston Murray, Eli Murray, it is the state's fourteenth largest city. According to the 2020 census, M ...

), is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player who was selected by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

in the 9th round of the 1978 NFL Draft. A 6'5", 232 lbs.

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

from Arizona State University, Hardy played his entire NFL career with the Dolphins from 1978-1989. He was married to Joanie Hardy for 20 years and has four sons: Nathan, Adam, Aaron and Matthew. He coached in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

for the

Florida Bobcats The Florida Bobcats were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Sunrise, Florida. They were previously known as the Sacramento Attack and the Miami Hooters, and played in the AFL for a total of ten seasons, the last seven in West Palm Beach ...

before coaching for

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

. In 1974, while in high school, Hardy appeared on the cover of

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

Career Receiving Stats

* 151 Games * 256 Receptions * 2,455 Yards * 9.6 Avg. * 25 Touchdowns

References

External links

SI Classic Covers: Utah's Bruce Hardy

1956 births Living people American football tight ends Arizona State Sun Devils football players Miami Dolphins players Florida Bobcats coaches FIU Panthers football coaches Players of American football from Utah People from Murray, Utah {{Tightend-1950s-stub