Former North Carolina Tar Heel All-American football player William “Dee” Hardison has died:NFL D-lineman “Dee” was 61 years old

William ‘Dee” Hardison was an All-American defensive lineman for the UNC Tar Heels back in the 1970’s and he played for 11 seasons in the National Football League, having spent NFL time with the Bills, Giants, Chargers and Chiefs….He was one of the best football players to ever come through the state of North Carolina and Hardison died this past Saturday at age 61…He was a big, strong D-lineman who could move and he moved quick to the ball, very fast and agile for a big D-lineman….Hardison was a running back at Hobbton High School, which explains where he got that speed….Hardison played at UNC from 1973-1977 was named to the AP All-American team in his senior year of college in ’77…

Hardison was inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 alongside N.C. State basketball star Genia Beasley, NFL referee Gerald Austin(Greensboro), UNC basketball star Pete Brennan, N.C. State football star Dennis Byrd, Louisburg baseball coach Russ Frazier, AFL all-star Claude “Hoot” Gibson, World Series winning baseball manager Jack McKeon(Elon, N.C.), and Elon athletic director/former Wake Forest football star Alan White.

+++++Hardison died of heart-related issues….+++++
Obituary listing for William “Dee” Hardison from the Butler Funeral Home in Clinton, North Carolina:
Age-61, 300 Trinity Garden Lane, Linden, NC formerly of Newton Grove, NC died Saturday, April 21, 2018 at UNC Memorial Hospital, Chapel Hill, NC.

Funeral will be held Saturday, April 28, 2018 at Northwood Temple Church, 4250 Ramsey St. Fayetteville, N.C. at 12:00 noon.

Visitation: 10:30 am- 11:45am before the service.

Interment: McLamb Family Cemetery, Clinton, NC

Survivors: Arnell Hardison (wife) of the home, Marcus Hardison (son) of Garland, Braxton Hardison (grandson),

3 sisters: Carlolyn Aluza of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Sharon Copeland of Hampton, Virginia, and Pat King of Clinton, NC

3 brothers: Billy King of Turkey, NC, Freeman Hardison of Grantham, NC, and Michael Hardison of Clinton, NC