Jim Hardy
Chicago Cardinals
Excerpted from Stan Grosshandler
(Originally published in Football Digest)
The Coffin Corner Volume XVIII, 1996
No
professional football player has ever experienced the ups and downs of
emotion as did Jim Hardy, Chicago Cardinal quarterback, in the first two
games of the 1950 season.
On
opening day against the Eagles, NFL champs the previous year, Jim threw
eight pass interceptions. He followed that abysmal performance with one
of the hottest hands ever, when, against the Colts the following week,
he threw five TD passes to one man (Bob Shaw), six in the game, and had
a record-tying seventh touchdown pass dropped in the end zone. Both his
eight interceptions and five touchdown passes to one man still stand as
NFL records.
Hardy led the USC Trojans to victory in both the 1944 and '45 Rose Bowl
games. Jim played three years for the LA Rams and then came to the
Cardinals to replace Paul Christman in the Dream Backfield that included
Charlie Trippi, Pat Harder and Elmer Angsman. In 1950, Hardy threw for
1636 yards and the Cards finished 5-7, 5th place in the American
Conference. Jim finished his career with the champion l952 Lions.
(Professional Football Researchers Association)
