Greg Hardy made at least $18 million in the NFL & now he’s working inside a Walmart?

The Walmart manager had no idea if a former Dallas Cowboy, and Pro Bowl NFL defensive end, was coming back to work on Monday.

In fairness, the Walmart manager had no idea if Greg Hardy was working at the same store. Or who he is.

If you have ever stepped in a Walmart you know there are approximately 87,411 employees. There is a good chance the entire cast from “Saved By the Bell” currently works there and the store manager wouldn’t know it.

Hardy played one season with the Cowboys, after which he was unofficially kicked out of the NFL. That was 2015. He was 27.

Hardy isn’t really a “Where are they now?” He’s more of a “Whatever happened to that guy?”

Today, he’s 34 and ... working at a Walmart in Garland. Kinda. Sorta.

Hardy is a living example that you don’t need a college degree to be successful, but you have to be smart enough to avoid being dumb and blow life-altering opportunities.

First of all, there is no shame in working at Walmart, or any job.

When you’re talking about The Kraken, all kinds of crazy are in play. (FYI: Hardy calls himself “The Kraken,” and it’s not an homage to Seattle’s NHL team).

If you are lucky enough to follow Hardy on Instagram, you know that he did work last week inside of a Walmart. For, like a day.

“Yo’, don’t believe this dumb s---. Gotta clear this up because it’s 2023,” Hardy said on his IG account after he worked in, not for, Walmart. “Obviously I don’t work at Walmart. I’m out here tryin’ to learn new skills. If you been payin’ attention that’s what I do.”

Now that you mention it, no, we have not been paying attention. Haven’t since about 2016, when no NFL team would offer him a contract even though he could sack NFL quarterbacks.

“That’s what I do. I infiltrate; start at the bottom, learn the skills, then attack,” Hardy said. “That’s how we made over $1 million in the UFC.”

It reads like Suze Orman, but sounds more like Bill Gates.

Last week, Hardy posted a 41-minute Instagram live video of himself “working” at a Walmart in Garland where he was selling Spectrum packages to customers for a marketing company.

He wore a tie. Looked professional. The video of Hardy spewing nonsense, while talking to people who posted on his live feed, was entertaining.

“I don’t know how do you this 9-to-5 (bleep),” he said as he walked into the store. “I thought I had it hard being a celebrity. Your job is hard.”

Then he proceeded to verbally slap any pro athlete who complained about their job playing sports.

“I started today. I’m quitting today,” Hardy said. “I’m trying to turn into a tycoon. They turned me into a Walmart greeter.”

Man’s gotta eat.

“You know I can’t spell, or read. I went to Ole Miss,” he said. “All we did was drink.”

Not sure how that’s going look on the brochure for the next Ole Miss alumni event but it sounds authentic.

“Tryin’ to get it together, bro’,” he said. “I didn’t bring my weed pen.”

They threw Willie Nelson in jail for that.

“I don’t need no money. I need to know how to run the business so I can run my own company,” Hardy said.

You gettin’ all this?

Hardy’s UFC career started in 2018, and he currently has a 7-5 record. He has lost his last three fights, most recently on March 5, 2022, in the first round, against Polar Bear.

Hardy didn’t lose to an actual Polar Bear, although that is a fight I’d pay to watch. The Polar Bear’s real name is Serghei Spivac.

Hardy claims he made “over $1 million in the UFC,” which feels off by about $900,000. He made approximately $18 million in his six year NFL career.

This is a 34-year-old man who made a lifetime’s worth of money in six years, and there is a great chance it’s gone. Why else is he working for a marketing company that sells packages for Spectrum?

Hardy’s story is well documented. He beat up a girlfriend when he was with the Carolina Panthers in 2014, gave her a settlement check, was suspended by the NFL, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is the only man in the NFL who would sign him because he was Pro Bowl talent at a bargain price.

Despite his wealth, Jerry is the guy at the checkout counter who holds up the line because he “has a coupon here somewhere.”

Hardy took that Jerry branch, and promptly took it for granted.

Hardy was in the prime of his career and could still play an in-demand position; he never played in the NFL again after his one year with the Cowboys.

There are no less than a dozen sad elements to this story, including a part in that IG live video between Hardy and a customer. You can’t see the woman, but judging by her voice she sounded older.

Hardy was professional. He was kind. He was sweet. He was funny. He was a salesman doing his job, selling Spectrum packages to shoppers.

The woman had no idea that she was talking to a man who about 10 years ago nearly beat the life out of his girlfriend. The woman had no idea that she was talking to a former NFL Pro Bowler.

She thought this was another employee in a Walmart doing his job, which in that moment is exactly what Greg Hardy was.