When Panthers left tackle Michael Oher and Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy would play one-on-one games before basketball practice at their Memphis, Tenn., high school, things would get so heated their coach finally had to call them off.
John Harrington, the coach at Briarcrest Christian outside Memphis, said Hardy and Oher never came to blows. But there were a couple of big bodies banging against each other every afternoon inside the school’s gym.
“It was like a daily event, but I had to stop it because it got so physical,” Harrington said last week. “Not fighting physical.