By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

The ninth day of December marks an especially noteworthy date in University of Illinois football history, particularly for linebackers.

Not only is it the birth date of one of its greatest players—Dick Butkus—it's the date the legendary University of Illinois linebacker got the opportunity to give his namesake prize—the Butkus Award—to two other Fighting Illini stars.

Like his former teammate Dana Howard, newly selected Illini Hall of Famer Kevin Hardy fondly recalls the details that surrounded that memorable night 25 years ago—Dec. 9, 1995. Hardy's competition for the award was a pair of future College Football Hall of Famers—Ray Lewis of the Miami Hurricanes and Zach Thomas of Texas Tech—so the then Illini senior was understandably pessimistic about his chances.

"That day, I had contemplated whether I was going to write a speech," Hardy said. "Finally, I decided that I should scribble something down. I rehearsed it a few times, but I had convinced myself that I probably wasn't going to win. Just in case, I had my notes with me.

"That night, I started playing the game of looking where I was seated and where the other two guys were seated. I'm wondering whether maybe they put the winner closer to the stage. There were so many things that were going through my mind. I was convinced that 'There's no way you're going to win this thing.' So, when Dick Butkus called my name, I was really shocked. I was just as stunned as anyone. All season long, I just never saw myself like that. I was just happy to be there as a finalist."

At the awards banquet that night, the crowd was shown some video that Hardy, Lewis and Thomas had pre-taped with an interviewer earlier in the day.

"One of the questions was do you think that you could be better than Dick Butkus? 'Are you the best linebacker ever from Illinois?'," Hardy remembered. "Me being cocky and brash at the time, I made a statement about having the ability to become the best linebacker to ever play at Illinois or something along those lines. It wasn't really something I thought about when I was saying it. So, when they played that I'm thinking "Oh, #%x%!"

Finally, came the evening's most dramatic announcement.

"So, they called my name and Dick Butkus is handing me the award," Hardy said. "Obviously, he's the greatest linebacker ever to play and the trophy is in his name. He mentioned that it was two years in a row that the winner had come from his alma mater.

"He says, 'Congratulations, Kevin. Who knows? Maybe you will be the best ever from Illinois.' Everybody was laughing, so it was kind of an ice breaker. I look back now and it's a great story to be able to tell people."

As a member of Illinois's famed 1990s linebacker quartet that included Dana Howard, John Holecek, and Simeon Rice, Hardy admits that he didn't feel as highly regarded as his former teammates. It did, however, inspire him to raise his game.

"To be honest, I always felt like the odd man out," Hardy said. "They used to call Dana and John the 'H Boys.' I got thrown in the mix because my last name was Hardy. To me, they were the original 'H Boys.' And then Simeon being Big Ten Freshman of the Year and having the immediate success that he had, he got a lot of accolades. I used that as motivation because I didn't want to be considered the weakest link or the fourth guy. In my sophomore year, Dana and John and Simeon were all first-team All-Big Ten, and I was honorable mention. I remember hanging that press release on my wall, right next to my bed. It was one of those things that I saw every day and I used it as motivation to prove that I could be on the first-team the following year."

In 1994, Kevin Hardy's hard work paid off and he was rewarded with consensus first-team all-conference accolades alongside Howard and Rice. The following season, of course, he was able duplicate his teammate and personal hero's most notable achievement.

"On the football field, I never played with anyone who played with as much emotion and passion as Dana," Hardy said. "He just brought it every single day. He was the same type of guy off the field. People just gravitate to his personality. When I was being recruited and I came up to Illinois for a visit, the team was practicing in the bubble. They were doing a nine-on-seven drill and he hit the running back. In the bubble, when those shoulder pads would pop, that sound would echo. That hit echoed so loud that it got me all fired up. When they told me that Dana was just a freshman and that I'd get to play with him, that was one of those things that I never forgot. Years later, having experienced being on the field with him and seeing the work that he put in really helped motivate me and propelled me to work hard and be on the same level as him."

Earlier this year, Hardy got word that another honor was coming his way from his alma mater.

"A number of years ago, I was inducted into our high school Hall of Fame (Evansville, Indiana's Harrison High School)," he said. "At that point, Illinois didn't even have a Hall of Fame. When they finally established it, I felt that I had a decent shot of getting in there one day. So when (athletic director) Josh (Whitman) called and told me, I was definitely excited. I don't care at what age or at what stage of your life you are, you always appreciate recognition for work that you've done. Obviously, Illinois did a lot for me, giving me an opportunity to get an education and play football. I feel like I worked hard while I was there and worked hard to help the team win and, on a personal level, to be the best football player that I could be. When you get that kind of recognition, it ties everything together. It brings a sense of accomplishment. There are a lot of people that are responsible for helping me get there, so my thanks goes to all of them."