Hardy Nickerson is a very well known name in the football world and that stems from his incredible career as a player. The five-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro selection starred at the NFL level from 1987 to 2002 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers and, since then, Nickerson has been rising up the ranks as a coach.
He began his coaching career with the Chicago Bears in 2007 and, after a brief high school stop, Nickerson has served with the Buccaneers in 2014-2015 and at Illinois (under Lovie Smith) since 2016. His current occupation, though, is one that took him to Jacksonville (Fla.) for the weekend as a part of a recruiting tour and Nickerson ended up encountering a health issue along the way.
While "emergency" is never a word you want to see with regard to medical issues, it appears that the Appendectomy went well and Nickerson should be back in action quite soon. Unexpected trips to the hospital are never ideal but the veteran linebacker is a huge part of the Illinois coaching staff and, given an upward trajectory under Smith's tutelage, Nickerson is a name to keep in mind in the future with regard to high-profile opportunities.
