Nick Hardwick life and biography

Nicholas "Nick" Hardwick, born September 2, 1981 in Indianapolis, Indiana is an American football center for the San Diego Chargers. He was drafted by the Chargers in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue.

Hardwick's career

Last year Hardwick was voted to the Chargers' 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, but 2009 was anything but a season for him to celebrate. Less than a year after recovering from a severely sprained right foot that required surgery, Hardwick suffered a severely sprained left ankle in the ’09 opener at the Oakland Coliseum and missed the Chargers' next 13 games.

As frustrating as the season was, the Chargers were fortunate that Hardwick returned when he did. His replacement, Scott Mruczkowski, was playing some of the finest football of his career in Hardwick's absence, but Mruczkowski suffered a season-ending ankle injury late in the Chargers’ Dec. 20 win at home against Cincinnati and Hardwick was pressed into action.

He returned to action five days later and started the Chargers' Christmas night game in Tennessee. Hardwick played nearly the entire game vs. the Titans as the Chargers rushed for 166 yards, their second-highest total of the season, and allowed only one sack in 28 passing plays. Hardwick not only played that game, but the rest of the season, including the Chargers’ Jan. 17 playoff game against the New York Jets.

Hardwick is a key cog in the offensive line. In addition to his responsibilities as a run blocker, he plays a huge role in pass protection and calling out the blocking signals for the entire offensive line. A starter since his rookie season of 2004, Hardwick helped the Chargers rush for more than 2,000 yards his first four seasons, including a team-record
2,578-yard season in ’06.

Hardwick's route to the NFL is not a common one. He grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was a standout prep wrestler. He went to Purdue on a Marine Corps ROTC Scholarship, but that all changed after former Chargers QB Drew Brees led the Boilermakers to the 2001 Rose Bowl and Hardwick saw the excitement that it generated on the West Lafayette, Indiana, campus. The following fall, he decided to walk on to the school’s football team. A year after earning a spot as a defensive tackle on the scout team, Hardwick became the Boilermakers’ starting center and earned all-conference honors. In 2004, the Chargers made him a third-round draft pick and he’s been a starter ever since. Wife, Jayme, is also a former Boilermaker, having played soccer for Purdue’s women’s team.

Hardwick still maintains close ties to his alma mater. In 2007, he endowed a football scholarship at the school that is given annually to a walk-on player who earns a scholarship, just as Hardwick did. And in 2008, Purdue presented him with the Drew Brees Mental Attitude Award, presented by the Joe Tiller/Northwest Indiana Chapter of the National Football Foundation. Hardwick became the fourth former Boilermaker to receive the award. The winner each year is chosen by Brees and recognizes Hardwick is the team’s NFL Players' Association representative. In 2009, he attended the NFL's Business and Entrepreneurial Program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. A special program for NFL players and front office employees, Hardwick spent a week learning a broad range of business topics from some of the most well-known educators from around the country.

Hardwick enjoys a wide range of extreme sports that includes surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding. As a youth in Indianapolis, he also played hockey on a traveling team that competed throughout the U.S. and Canada. One of his teammates from that squad was John-Michael Liles, who is now a defenseman for the NHL's Colorado Avalanche.

TRANSACTION HISTORY: Third-round pick (66), April 24, 2004…signed July 29, 2004...signed six-year contract thru 2011, June 16, 2006.

2009: Removed from game due to left ankle injury Week 1 at OAK...missed next 13 games...returned to starting lineup Dec. 25 at TEN and helped Chargers rush for 166 yards while only allowing one sack in 28 pass plays...started Week 16 and Wild Card Playoffs.

2008: Pro Bowl third-alternate…INA Wks 1-3 (foot)…started Week 4 at OAK…Week 14 at KC, left in 3Q (concussion)...started following week when Philip Rivers threw career-high four TDs in 41-24 win at TB…anchored team-record 289-yard rushing performance in AFC West-clinching win vs. DEN Dec. 28…blocked for 167-yard rush night in Jan. 5 Wild
Card win vs. IND as Bolts scored GW TD on 22-yard run in OT.

2007: USA Today Sports Weekly All-NFL and USA Today All-Joe…Pro Bowl second-alternate…Oct. 7 at DEN, OL cleared way for 214 yards rushing…inj foot Oct. 14 vs. Raiders and left contest…INA Wks 7-10…returned to starting-11 Nov. 25 vs. BAL…anchored 191-yard rush game in 24-10 win at KC Dec. 2, including rush TDs of 31 and 28 yards in 3Q and 4Q to break 10-10 tie…blocked for 274 yard rush game and DNA any sacks vs. DET Dec. 16…OL DNA any sacks in Jan. 13 Divisional Playoff win at IND and line had perfect blocks as Billy Volek scored GW TD on one-yard QB sneak.

2006: Pro Bowl selection…OL anchored 241-yard rushing day and three TDs with no sacks vs. TEN Sept. 17…150 yards rushing Wk 3 vs. BAL, which was ranked No. 1 in
NFL vs. run and only surrendering 34.3 rush ypg coming into contest…big day vs. STL Oct. 29 as Bolts rushed for 216 yards...starting five OL named Chargers Alumni POW after Nov. 19 win at DEN…anchored 265-yard rush game, then fifth-most in team history, in 20-9 win over KC Dec. 17.

2005: Paved way for 268 yards rushing, then third-best in team history, and DNA any sacks vs. NYG in ESPN SNF game Sept. 25…line DNA any sacks for second-consecutive week and helped Chargers rush for 183 yards in Oct. 2 win at NE to end Patriots' NFL record 21-game home win streak…left OAK game Oct. 16 with high ankle sprain…INA Wks 7-9…returned to starting lineup Wk 10 vs. BUF...created running lanes for 202-yard rush effort, including GW TD run in OT, at WAS Wk 11…in 26-17 win at IND Dec. 18, OL blocked for 206 rush yards.

2004: ESPN.com All-Rookie…left TEN game Oct. 3 (knee)… INA Wks 5-6…Chargers Alumni POW along with starting OL following Nov. 28 win at KC…left playoff game vs. NYJ (ankle)…returned for one play and but then suffered knee injury and DNR.

COLLEGE: Second-team All-Big Ten...Boilermakers Pit Bull Award for tenacity and intensity as senior…Academic All-Big Ten as junior…walked on in 2001 as scout team DT...earned
scholarship before junior season…played at Purdue from 2001-03…economics degree.

PERSONAL: Born in Franklin, Indiana…earned three wrestling letters at Lawrence North HS in Indianapolis…member of state championship wrestling team… played football as frosh.

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