Cedrick Ward Hardman (October 4, 1948 – March 8, 2019) was an

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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

who played for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

and the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

Oakland Invaders The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The team can tra ...

. Hardman's thirteen-year professional football career lasted from 1970 to 1981 in the

and ended as a player/coach in 1983 with the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. Hardman held the record for most sacks in a season for the 49ers recording 18 sacks in only 14 games during his

1971 Pro Bowl The 1971 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 21st annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1970 season. The game was played on January 24, 1971, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The final score was ...

season with the 49ers until 2012, when it was broken by

Aldon Smith Aldon Jacarus Smith (born September 25, 1989) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He played college football at Missouri, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers seventh overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. Smith also played ...

with 19.5.

College

Hardman played college football at North Texas State University, (renamed the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...

in 1988). Hardman was an All-

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

football defensive lineman. In a historic manner, Hardman recorded 30 sacks in his senior season at North Texas State including an 11-sack performance in North Texas' 1969 Homecoming game against Tulsa. Hardman represented North Texas State in the Blue-Gray and Senior Bowl all-star games in 1970 earning defensive most valuable player honors after recording 4 sacks in each game. Including the all-star games, Hardman accounted for 38 sacks during his final year at North Texas. During his first two seasons in Denton, Hardman lined up on the same defense as future

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

enshrinee "Mean"

Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1 ...

. Cedrick started playing college football as a defensive back, then moved to linebacker in his sophomore season. His final two college years were spent playing defensive end. Hardman was drafted with the ninth overall selection in the first round of the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, ...

by the

Professional career

NFL career

Hardman is the current all-time sack leader for the San Francisco 49ers franchise, recording 107 sacks between 1970 and 1979 and he had with the Raiders in 1980 and 81 ( in 1980). The NFL did not start to officially recognize the sack until the 1982 season, unofficially, Hardman's career sacks ranks him tied with Clyde Simmons for 30th all-time. Hardman was a two-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

er in 1971 and 1975 and he was a member of the

Super Bowl XV winning team.

USFL career

On October 20, 1982, Hardman was the first player signed by the

of newly formed

. Hardman served as a player/coach during the team's inaugural 1983 division winning, 9-9 season.

Acting career

Movies

* ''

House Party A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...

'' (1990) – Rock * '' Stir Crazy'' (1980) – Big Mean * '' The Candidate'' (1972) – Actor

Television

*''

The Fall Guy ''The Fall Guy'' is an American action/adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who mo ...

'' (1981) – Righteous (1 episode) *''The Fall Guy: Part 1'' (1981, as Cedrick Hardman) – Righteous *''Police Woman'' (1975) – Large Man (1 episode) *''Police Woman'': "The Company" (1975, as Cedrick Hardman) – Large Man *''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

'': "Blood Relations" (2014) – Hand double

Personal life

Hardman is related to current NFL defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

References

External links

Cedrick Hardman's Official Website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardman, Cedrick 1948 births 2019 deaths Players of American football from Houston American football defensive ends Burials at Pacific View Memorial Park San Francisco 49ers players Oakland Raiders players National Conference Pro Bowl players North Texas Mean Green football players Oakland Invaders players