Players

Nick Hardwick returned to his old self in 2010. A year after missing 13 games due to an ankle injury, Hardwick assumed his familiar role as the anchor of the Chargers’ offensive line and started every game for the NFL’s No. 1 ranked offense. Hampered by a series of foot and ankle injuries in recent years, Hardwick started all 16 games for just the second time in his career in 2010, and his teammates acknowledged the challenges Hardwick has overcome by honoring him with a share of the team’s Emil Karas Memorial Award as its most inspirational player.

A member of the Chargers’ 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and a Pro Bowl selection in 2006, Hardwick calls out blocking signals for the entire offensive line. A starter since his rookie season (2004), the Chargers have rushed for at least 1,700 yards in every season that Hardwick has started at least 12 games, including a team-record 2,578 yards in ’06.

Hardwick grew up in Indianapolis where he was a standout prep wrestler with dreams of becoming a Marine aviator. One of his father’s cousins, Joe McCormick, was a former Air Force pilot. Hardwick earned a pilot’s license before he turned 18 and went to Purdue on a Marine Corps ROTC Scholarship. But after former Chargers quarterback Drew Brees led the Boilermakers to the 2001 Rose Bowl, Hardwick saw the excitement it generated on the Purdue campus, and the following fall he decided to walk on to the school’s football team. A year after earning a spot as a scout team defensive tackle, Hardwick became the Boilermakers’ starting center and earned all-conference honors. Hardwick’s wife, Jayme, is also a former Boilermaker. She played soccer for Purdue’s women’s team.

Hardwick 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 it, 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. Brees chooses the winner each year to recognize an athlete who exemplifies exceptional mental attitude.

Hardwick is the team’s union 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 country’s most well-known educators.

Hardwick’s interest in the military has inspired him to join teammate Kris Dielman in supporting the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation (MCLEF), an organization that raises money to provide advanced education for the children of Marines and law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

Hardwick enjoys reading, drawing and participating in 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, a defenseman for the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

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

2011: Hardwick started his 100th career game Week 14 against Buffalo.

2010: Chargers’ co-Most Inspirational Player...offensive line blocked for 180 rush yards and allowed just one sack in 41-10 win vs. Arizona Oct. 3...offensive line named Madden Most Valuable Protectors after season-high 207 yards rushing in 31-0 win vs. Kansas City Dec. 12.

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.