Carroll Hardy - Inducted 1978

Sturgis High School. 1955 University of Colorado grad. The only South Dakotan to play major league baseball and in the NFL, the 6-foot, 185-pounder was a third-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers. Starting flanker for the 49ers in 1955, catching 12 passes, four for touchdowns. Backfieldmates were Y.A. Tittle, Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenny. Afer that one NFL season, he concentrated on baseball. He played in the major leagues eight seasons, with Cleveland, Boston, Houston and Minnesota, hitting .225. His best  batting average was .263 with Boston in 1961. He’s one of only two men to pinch-hit for Ted Williams. Got his first big-league home run with Cleveland, pinch-hitting for Roger Maris.

Worked more than 20 years in Denver Broncos’ front office. As player personnel director he was the key figure in building Orange Crush defense. At Sturgis, Hardy helped the Scoopers to the 1951 Class A basketball title and he won the state long jump title that spring.

At Colorado, he was named to CU’s 25-man all-century football team and was a two-time honorable mention All-American. He won 10 letters, in baseball (4), football (4) and track (2). In his senior year (1954), he was nationally ranked in scoring (68 points, eighth) and punting (41.6, fifth) and led the Buffaloes in interceptions and passing. In 1953, he intercepted three passes in one game. In his final football game at CU, he rushed for 238 yards on 10 carries against Kansas State. He rushed for 1,999 yards in his career and his 6.9 yards per carry average was a school record. In baseball, he set CU career records for batting average (.392) and triples (12). As a sprinter on the track team, he once ran a 9.8 100-yard dash.