HOUSTON _ The tiny eastern North Carolina hamlet of Vanceboro has had a population that has fluctuated between 900 and 1,000 over the years.
Fortunately for Justin Hardy's football development, one of those residents happened to be an NFL quarterback who was related to Hardy and lived on the same road.
Anthony Wright played 10 NFL seasons, started a playoff game for the Baltimore Ravens in 2003 and won a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants four years later.
Wright's career lasted long enough that when he would go back to visit family in Vanceboro and needed someone to catch for him, Hardy _ Wright's younger cousin _ was old enough to run routes and pull down passes.
Those throwing sessions didn't earn Hardy any Division I scholarship offers.
But they helped give him the confidence to turn down a Division II offer and walk on at East Carolina, where all Hardy did was become the NCAA's all-time receptions leader and a fourth-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.
Hardy is the Falcons' No. 4 receiver and a member of all the special teams. But given how quarterback Matt Ryan shares the wealth in the Atlanta offense, Hardy stands a good chance to make a catch _ even a big play _ in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots.
Hardy caught only 21 passes during the regular season, but four went for touchdowns. That's only two fewer than Julio Jones' total.
"We spread the ball around a lot," Hardy said Thursday. "So you never know what could happen."
