Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union
Missouri Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy (29) reacts to his first down pickup during the first quarter of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Jacksonville. Fla.
Perhaps the best running back in all of college football will make his season debut on Saturday against Arkansas, and he’ll do so under extraordinary circumstances: with a bullet lodged in his leg.
Missouri Tigers star Ahmad Hardy rushed for 1,649 yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore last season on 6.4 yards per carry after transferring from Louisiana-Monroe.
Hardy was sent to enter this season as the favorite for the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back and was projected by many as the top running back available in the 2027 NFL Draft.
But his season, and life, were derailed before any of that could even get going. Hardy was attending a concert in his native Mississippi in May when he was shot in the leg. He quickly underwent surgery to repair a broken femur and has been working to recover ever since.
Now, Hardy has been given the green light to take the field again. But not without a unique complication.
NEWS: The bullet that shattered the tip of Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy’s left femur remains lodged in his body, Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz told me.
REPORT:
2025 consensus All-American RB Ahmad Hardy returns to the field Saturday for Missouri, from a gun shot wound suffered last May. Hardy was cleared medically to begin rehab back in July — rehab that for months included a series of gains and setbacks.
As a Missouri staffer told me: There is no specific return-to-play protocol for a player who suffers a gunshot to the hip, which shattered a femur and required intricate surgery to repair.
Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz confirmed that a stabilizing rod was inserted in Hardy’s femur. Drinkwitz told me Friday it’s also not just physical rehab that has challenged Hardy, it’s mental rehab, too. Hardy has struggled, Drinkwitz said, with questions of whether he’ll be the same player he was. The pressure of performance is a mental battle.
Mizzou expects Hardy to help alleviate some of the rushing load from Jamal Roberts. But their expectations are tempered.
One other thing: Drinkwitz told me the bullet is still in Hardy’s body.— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) October 30, 2026
Mizzou RB Ahmad Hardy Still Has A Bullet In His Leg
ESPN’s Marty Smith spoke with Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz on Friday and learned a lot about Hardy’s recovery process and return to play. One of the things that he learned is that Hardy still has the bullet that broke his leg lodged in his body despite undergoing surgery.
“Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz confirmed that a stabilizing rod was inserted in Hardy’s femur,” Smith reported. “Drinkwitz told me Friday it’s also not just physical rehab that has challenged Hardy. It’s mental rehab, too. Hardy has struggled, Drinkwitz said, with questions of whether he’ll be the same player he was. The pressure of performance is a mental battle.”
At the end of the report, Smith noted that doctors did not remove the bullet.
Because pulling out a bullet can often involve cutting through healthy tissue, muscle, and organs, doctors often leave bullets inside a person’s body. Additionally, in emergency situations, surgeons focus on stabilizing the patient, stopping internal bleeding, and repairing damaged organs or broken bones.
Over time, the body typically forms scar tissue around the bullet, protecting it from further damage.
Still, it’s incredible that Hardy is able to return at all this season, let alone with the bullet that almost ruined his career still lodged in his leg.