SI Chronicles the Sad Saga of James Hardy

[boyst]

2 hours ago, TroutDog said:

So terrible, in my opinion, that you would say this. 

It's true.

 

Dude was a piece of *****.  I'm not one to talk ill of the dead but I will not celebrate a piece of ***** who had ample opportunity to better his life.

 

I'll get some *feelsy* folks telling me he had mental illness and couldn't overcome it.  Spare me.  Many folks do.  And I've known more than my share of people to kill themselves, one of them a highly successful athlete who had mental health issues.  This guy was a scumbag and this story is a load of crap to write.  There is so much better that could be written than the destruction of a person who had "athletic identity foreclosure," whatever the ***** that is.

 

james Hardy, I am not sorry for you.  I am sorry for your son - who I can hope finds a true role model in a man better than you could ever pretend you wanted to be.

[LSHMEAB]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I'm sorry for him and those his death impacts, but I'm having trouble understanding the "saddest story ever" thing.

 

Guy was born with incredible athletic talent and while he didn't have a father in his life and his family was unstable, it sounds like he had coaches, relatives, and friends who cared about him and spent a lot of time trying to help him along the way.

 

Per the article, he was given a "free pass" to bad behavior as a youth and college student - rules were for other people - and was putting all his eggs in the "athletic success" basket.  There are many talented HS and college athletes who get less help and fewer opportunities.  To me the take-home is that coaches and schools do their athletes no favors if they treat them as beyond consequences or don't push them to lay down a solid enough academic foundation to have success in life outside athletics.

 

 

He was also incredibly good looking etc. What made the story sad is that he was clearly not well mentally. I'm not placing any blame on circumstance or family instability. I think that paints an incomplete picture. Plenty of people are able to overcome that, especially if given the gifts bestowed upon Hardy.

 

However, nobody in a healthy mental state runs around the neighborhood in diapers or drowns themselves in a cold river. There were some awful things going on in dude's head.

 

I don't know that there was an answer other than Hardy snapping out of something that was seemingly beyond his control. He's ultimately responsible for his death, but it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. 

16 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

It's true.

 

Dude was a piece of *****.  I'm not one to talk ill of the dead

Sure you are.

[Steve O]

12 hours ago, LSHMEAB said:

That's the saddest story I've ever f'ing read. 

 

 

So for an eerily similar story with a more uplifting ending, watch the 30 for 30 on Maurice Clarett. From big 10 superstar that set school records to NFL bust, his story has many parallels. Came close to ending his life during a police chase. Turned his life around while in jail, during which time he refused to be sent to a lower security prison as he knew the max security provided the structure he needed. By all accounts he continues to do well as a much sought after motivational speaker.

[TroutDog]

22 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

It's true.

 

Dude was a piece of *****.  I'm not one to talk ill of the dead but I will not celebrate a piece of ***** who had ample opportunity to better his life.

 

I'll get some *feelsy* folks telling me he had mental illness and couldn't overcome it.  Spare me.  Many folks do.  And I've known more than my share of people to kill themselves, one of them a highly successful athlete who had mental health issues.  This guy was a scumbag and this story is a load of crap to write.  There is so much better that could be written than the destruction of a person who had "athletic identity foreclosure," whatever the ***** that is.

 

james Hardy, I am not sorry for you.  I am sorry for your son - who I can hope finds a true role model in a man better than you could ever pretend you wanted to be.

I hear your opinion, just disagree.

 

A man is dead and, regardless of what you feel you know about him, it’s a human life lost and a family in even more disarray. 

[boyst]

2 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

I hear your opinion, just disagree.

 

A man is dead and, regardless of what you feel you know about him, it’s a human life lost and a family in even more disarray. 

Sounds like the families better off without him

[boyst]

26 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

He was also incredibly good looking etc. What made the story sad is that he was clearly not well mentally. I'm not placing any blame on circumstance or family instability. I think that paints an incomplete picture. Plenty of people are able to overcome that, especially if given the gifts bestowed upon Hardy.

 

However, nobody in a healthy mental state runs around the neighborhood in diapers or drowns themselves in a cold river. There were some awful things going on in dude's head.

 

I don't know that there was an answer other than Hardy snapping out of something that was seemingly beyond his control. He's ultimately responsible for his death, but it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. 

Sure you are.

And yet... Here I am unaware your opinion matters.

 

It's called maturity. ??‍♂️. So, thanks for wasting your breath.

[LSHMEAB]

4 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

And yet... Here I am unaware your opinion matters.

 

It's called maturity. ??‍♂️. So, thanks for wasting your breath.

I typed it, so there was no wasted breath involved.

[boyst]

2 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

I typed it, so there was no wasted breath involved.

You wasted all that fingering than??‍♂️??‍♂️??‍♂️??‍♂️

 

Regardless, there are better men then James Hardy out there, and I have no doubt saying that I am one of them

[LSHMEAB]

Just now, Boyst62 said:

You wasted all that fingering than??‍♂️??‍♂️??‍♂️??‍♂️

 

 

then

[boyst]

Just now, LSHMEAB said:

then

Voice to text

[Steptide]

5 hours ago, colin said:

sad story, but he just seems like a total POS to me.

Ya I agree somewhat with this. I feel terrible for those kids being a dad myself. However, hardys nfl career hardly got off the ground. He wasn't good when he was with the bills, ever. He was cut in 2011 I believe, maybe 2010. I wish nobody had to grow up the way he did, but it doesn't give him any right to treat people the way the article makes it sound. Sad all around either way 

[HomeskillitMoorman]

While it's sad...I have to agree that it's tougher to have empathy for someone who would physically/mentally abuse their spouse and baby. Life is hard sometimes, most of us have had some dark times at some point or another. That will never be an excuse to treat other people like that though. 

 

But then there is the aspect of mental illness, and I guess we'll never know if that was a part of what he did to his wife and baby. 

Edited November 15, 2018 by HomeskillitMoorman

[CookieG]

4 hours ago, LSHMEAB said:

He was also incredibly good looking etc. What made the story sad is that he was clearly not well mentally. I'm not placing any blame on circumstance or family instability. I think that paints an incomplete picture. Plenty of people are able to overcome that, especially if given the gifts bestowed upon Hardy.

 

However, nobody in a healthy mental state runs around the neighborhood in diapers or drowns themselves in a cold river. There were some awful things going on in dude's head.

 

I don't know that there was an answer other than Hardy snapping out of something that was seemingly beyond his control. He's ultimately responsible for his death, but it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. 

Sure you are.

That can't be stressed enough.

 

Contrary to popular belief, very few people are adjudged incompetent to stand trial in a criminal case. Even fewer are given involuntary injections of antipsychotic medication.

 

The upbringing, the fall from his high status, and the post football rejections are all stressors, even extreme stressors. But when they are applied to his mental state, it usually ends in...well..

[BillsVet]

It's hard to understand his behavior and how much of it was just immaturity and what was mental health related.  Something was wrong, but it's hard to pinpoint what. Major mental illness, if this was the case, can affect someone more than most people could ever know. 

 

I hope that in the US we can begin tackling mental illness by encouraging people to talk about it.  Then get them the right treatment so they can achieve some balance in their lives. 

 

The bottom line is this is a tragic loss, both for the family he leaves behind and for a life cut short. 

[billrooter]

7 hours ago, Boyst62 said:

You wasted all that fingering than??‍♂️??‍♂️??‍♂️??‍♂️

 

Regardless, there are better men then James Hardy out there, and I have no doubt saying that I am one of them

Wow your a good guy Boyst you deserve a blue ribbon,  atta boy!

[KD in CA]

Sad, and yes it's a shame he couldn't figure out how to grow up in time to save himself, but he didn't "slip through the cracks", he leapt off the roof of his own free will.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

9 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I think it's much tougher than you think.   When everything around you as a kid is a disaster, when it's all poverty, drugs, unemployment, sex and violence, it's very hard to develop pitive life skills.   When your life is as chaotic as his was and you begin to have success in sports, it's not surprising that you'd put all your eggs in one basket.  It's an escape, it's the only thing that gives you gratification.   But it remains extraordinarily difficult to do the rest of things in your life successfully.   

 

I'm not advocating for anything.   I don't know how to fix the lives of people who live so dysfunctionally.   But I do know that kids growing up in that environment have a very difficult time growing into responsible, positive human beings.   That world is devastating to children.   

 

Well, you don't know how tough I think it is, so not sure how you'd know it's tougher than I think.

 

I'm not trying to soft-pedal his environment and its horrible impact.  But what about all the kids in that environment who *didn't* have a coach and his wife, or a relative, take an interest?  Who didn't have a scholarship offer to college? 

 

What about the kid from that environment, who showed academic promise but didn't get a scholarship because the scholarship money goes to athletes?  Or maybe the kid who did have a teacher take an interest, and a guidance counselor who helped the kid hunt down mom and dad and fill out the non-trivial paperwork for financial aid, but the kid got shot as an innocent bystander on a visit home for Thanksgiving?

 

I'm not saying Hardy didn't have a rough life and it isn't a sad story.  I'm just saying on the Hapless scale of things, my deepest sorrow goes elsewhere.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

...it's just sad the lad could not get the help he needed.....one would hope that Bflo drafting him in the 2nd would affect his spirits with a positive rebirth in his life with better times ahead....just a terribly tragic ending so young IMO........

[boyst]

38 minutes ago, billrooter said:

Wow your a good guy Boyst you deserve a blue ribbon,  atta boy!

wow, sarcasm, that's so witty.  it's like you're saying something but it's like totally the opposite.

30 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

Sad, and yes it's a shame he couldn't figure out how to grow up in time to save himself, but he didn't "slip through the cracks", he leapt off the roof of his own free will.

this reminds me of a thought i had later in the day and i hope everyone gets a chance to realize this.

 

ya know those times where a guy goes and kills someone in rage or has some ***** go down where he ***** people up then offs himself and ya think, jeez, if only that dude would have just sought help or just ended his life without victims then things would be a better option?

 

kind of feel this at the moment.  the guy had assaulted people in the last year, had shown violence and mental health issues and did not respond to help nor want it.  probably better off that he didn't hurt anyone and ended up this way than anything else.

 

but yeah, suicide is just ***** terrible.  seen enoguh first hand not to need to see it again.

[Bing Bong]

2 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

wow, sarcasm, that's so witty.  it's like you're saying something but it's like totally the opposite.

this reminds me of a thought i had later in the day and i hope everyone gets a chance to realize this.

 

ya know those times where a guy goes and kills someone in rage or has some ***** go down where he ***** people up then offs himself and ya think, jeez, if only that dude would have just sought help or just ended his life without victims then things would be a better option?

 

kind of feel this at the moment.  the guy had assaulted people in the last year, had shown violence and mental health issues and did not respond to help nor want it.  probably better off that he didn't hurt anyone and ended up this way than anything else.

 

but yeah, suicide is just ***** terrible.  seen enoguh first hand not to need to see it again.

Relax man lol. It's an article about a dead dude not Boyst's virtuousity.