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Ex-Charger charges towards acting career

By David Moye

May 15, 2006

Los Angeles--Former San Diego Charger defensive back Omari Hardwick doesn’t have the statistics or name recognition of team greats like LaDanian Tomlinson or Kellen Winslow.

In fact, Hardwick didn’t have much a pro career at all, barely making the Chargers practice squad before injuries curtailed his chances at NFL stardom.

Still, he’s proof that sometimes the curve thrown in your path helps get to where you really want to go.

Luckily, his “artsy fartsy” side didn’t present a conflict at all with his teammates.

“The football players all supported me,” he says. “They would come to my plays and take up the whole row.”

Hardwick was signed by the Chargers, in part, because then-coach Bobby Ross saw him play when he was coaching at Georgia Tech.

Sadly, injuries hurt his chances to shine on the field but, to this day, Hardwick is a big Bolts fan who tries to attend at least two games a year.

“Here’s how I explain that. I have an affinity for Spike Lee because he gave me my first break on his TV show, ‘Sucker Free City,’ and I have the same affinity for the Chargers because they gave me a chance when no one else would."

Although Hardwick’s football career was cut short, he had always planned to be an actor and set his sights on Hollywood as soon as it became the option.

“I don’t believe in having something to fall back on because, when you do, that’s what you do."

Still, Hardwick had a hard time breaking in and, at one point, studied to be a firefighter in order to please a girlfriend who wanted someone with “more stability than an actor.”

Ultimately, the relationship didn’t last but the knowledge Hardwick gained, especially the paramedic training, stayed with him and helped get cast in “Saved,” which debuts June 12.

“This role has different mental and physical challenges. Mentally, you have to be able to say the medical words, lingo and jargon and make it sound like you know what it means. Being a former paramedic, I know what it means and can say it with the proper authority – even something like, ‘Go over there.’”

Physically, it’s a different story. Hardwick spent one day on the set climbing up 100 feet in order to help carry down a heavy guy. Although he doesn’t do all of his own stunts, he did enough that “all my old football injuries came back.”

Hardwick says the experience has also taught him how much acting and football have in common. “It’s like a series of 40-yard dashes. You make the play and then you sit down for a while.”

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