Greg Hardy refuses to sign Panthers helmet, does autograph $100 bill
The Dallas Cowboys’ best pass rusher isn’t afraid to pass the buck.
Greg Hardy attended a Cowboys event on Monday and was hounded by autograph seekers. One brandished a mini Carolina Panthers helmet and asked Hardy to sign the swag of his former team, per the Dallas Morning News.
“No, I can’t do it,” Hardy said.
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(Quick timeout: Why again is Hardy upset with the Panthers again? Because they placed him on the commissioner’s reserve list, paying him in full while he was being investigated for — and later convicted of in one court — a domestic-violence incident involving his ex-girlfriend? Yeah, that must have been awful to get paid $13 million not to work and not have your future earnings affected much. Rant over.)
So what did Hardy do in lieu of the helmet? He whipped out a $100 bill and signed that. Problem solved. Ben Franklin to the rescue.
“I was a little irritated because I spent $37 on the mini helmet,” said Jeremy Smith, the recipient of the legal-tender autograph who claims to be a Cowboys fan. “But he offset it by throwing down the $100 bill. I was a little surprised. It made me feel better.”
Hardy signed it “Kraken” — his nickname — because of course he did.
Asked about the gesture, Hardy said: “That’s for the fans, man. You got to show love.”
Despite a rocky existence during his brief Dallas tenure, Hardy is producing on the field: three sacks, 12 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble in three games. The Cowboys openly have talked about wanting to sign him to a contract extension before he hits free agency in 2016. Clearly, they think he’s worth the trouble — and the money.
Money that Hardy apparently is willing to throw around with his John Hancock on it. So that’s cool.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
