Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy turned disappointment for one fan into a $100 come up at the Omni Hotel in Dallas Monday night.
Hardy was there at the Owners Box sports bar signing autographs as part of promotion for Gameday Sports Tours.
But when a fan asked him to sign a mini Carolina Panthers helmet, Hardy refused. But the controversial defensive end, who came to Dallas after five years in Carolina, came up with a lucrative alternative.
Hardy pulled a $100 bill out his pocket, signed it with his nickname “Kraken” and gave it to the lucky fan.
“That’s all I had on me,” Hardy said. “I hope he was a happy. You don’t want nobody to come out there, spend some money on some stuff and don’t get what you want.”
Hardy admittedly still has a bad taste in his mouth for Carolina because the team refused to re-sign him while facing domestic violence charges.
A North Carolina judge convicted Hardy last summer, but he appealed and sought a jury trial. Prosecutors dropped charges when the key witness stopped cooperating.
Hardy made $13.1 million last year with the Carolina Panthers, playing only one game before being placed on the commissioner’s exempt list. He signed with the Cowboys as a free agent March.
Hardy served a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy before returning to the Cowboys three games ago. His impact has been immediate with a team-leading three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
He has won over scores of Cowboys fans in the process, as evidenced by the large crowd seeking his autograph Monday night.
“It was chaos out there,” Hardy said “I didn’t know so many people liked me.”
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