Greg Hardy cleans out his locker, leaves heart-felt note for teammates and Rivera
Greg Hardy left a very touching note to his Panthers teammates and head coach after he cleaned out his locker.
Greg Hardy may have cleaned out his locker for the very last time as a Carolina Panther, and he is well aware of it.
Hardy cleaned out his locker earlier in the day and only saw a handful of teammates before he took off, which was ahead of the final team meeting before being dismissed for the off-season.
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Before Hardy took off though, he left a special note on a white dry-erase board for a few of his teammates and his head coach, Ron Rivera. The message was to all of his teammates, but he singled out a few, including the running backs, the defensive line, and Rivera.
The message on the white board read as followed:
"‘I LOVE YOU GUYS ALL J.P. [just playing] GET KRAKEN,’ Hardy apparently wrote on the white board. ‘(but mostly [illegible] the Run N Backs & Monster Inc. & the Big Mexicano).’"
It hasn’t been an easy year for Hardy. Hardy only played in the first week of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being put on the commissioner’s exempt to play list while his legal dispute was going on. Hardy was arrested back in July for domestic violence charges against his now ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder. He was found guilty by a district court judge of domestic violence against Holder and threatening to kill her. Hardy immediately attempted to file for a jury court trial and it was originally scheduled for Nov. 17, but was eventually pushed back to Feb. 9 of this year.
Hardy will be an unrestricted free agent this off-season and it doesn’t seem like it is in the Panthers plans to bring him back. He was making $13.1 million this past year and will most likely be demanding a pay raise, making him most likely too expensive for the Panthers to bring him back. Plus, the Panthers did okay on defense without him in the lineup.
Never the less, it will still be a huge loss for the Panthers and cornerback Josh Norman agrees.
“A guy of that caliber, man, we need that,” Norman said. “Hands down, I would welcome that and relish the chance to play with that guy again.”
It sounds like Hardy is still very much revered in the locker room, but the stars just don’t seem to be aligning for him to be a Panther next season.
H/T to The Charlotte Observer for the information and quotes.