Free agent Greg Hardy gives rambling, excuse-laden interview
The much-buzzed about Greg Hardy interview with Adam Schefter ran on ESPN on Tuesday afternoon, and it was a rambling, excuse-laden affair by Hardy, who refused to take responsibility or show remorse for the 2014 domestic violence incident he was involved in.
To the contrary, Hardy painted himself as a victim, saying he’s “still suffering” with the repercussions, calling himself “a leper of sorts” (as it should be), and insinuating that the police pictures of his victim, Nicole Holder, were manipulated.
All in all, it was pretty standard behavior for an abuser, if, unfortunately, you are familiar with the behavior of an abuser. And it sure as heck isn’t going to convince an NFL team to sign him, which is pretty much the only reason Hardy would have sat down for an interview at this point, as a means of showing he’s somehow different or better.
The interview, as aired, begins with Schefter asking Hardy, “How do you explain what happened?”
Let’s see if you can make sense of this non-sensical response from Hardy:
“I don’t think I want to get into a situation like that. It’s in the past. I want to say that I’m an innocent man, I’ve been proven not guilty, and it’s a situation that’s in my past. And I feel like, as a grown man, as a football player of my caliber there are situations, inside that situation, where it has nothing to do with the situation, but I could have done better. I should have done better,” he said.
Not only does that statement not make much sense, he’s wrong. Hardy was not proven “not guilty.” He was, in fact, found guilty by a judge in a bench trial. Under North Carolina law, he could appeal and receive a jury trial, but before it came to that, charges were dropped after he reached a settlement with his accuser and she declined to re-testify.
When Schefter notes that in the first trial Hardy was found guilty, he oddly calls it “a flimsy situation… I feel like it’s just a product of miscommunication.”
Hardy claims that he never put his hands on Holder, and inexplicably says that people who call him a monster might be confusing who he is as a person and his history with the Kraken, the nickname he’s given himself.
Sure.
We could go on, but really, there’s no point. Hardy says he’s an innocent man, then says it’s a stretch to say he didn’t do anything wrong. He head-scratchingly claims that domestic abuse is non-existent in Southern/Bible Belt homes.
If you want to watch more, you can here. Hardy will not, and perhaps cannot, show remorse for what happened between himself and Holder. ESPN gave him the opportunity for redemption; to say, however insincere it may have been, that he has learned from the error of his ways. And he didn’t.
As noted by colleague Eric Edholm, a big part of the reason why Hardy is unemployed has little to do with domestic violence and much more to do with his behavior with the Dallas Cowboys last season. Any team that signs him at this point would be signaling that it is so desperate for pass-rushing help that it is willing to overlook all of the baggage Hardy carries for a few quarterback sacks.
Perhaps the only real news that came out of Tuesday’s Hardy farce was a statement, released by Holder:
“I have worked very hard to distance myself from the media. I have relocated twice, changed my phone number more times than I can remember — I’ve even considered legally changing my name,” Holder said. “In four weeks I will be graduating from college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Operations Management. My focus is on finding a job, which has had its own unique challenges because of the news coverage related to my name. I am trying to move forward with my life and am asking the media to respect my privacy and wishes.”
Nicole Holder has had to make change after change. Greg Hardy refuses to change.
