Growing Pile of Lies Turned Into Massive Embarrassment For Offensive Linesman Kevin Hart

Published on February 6th, 2025 4:44 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


For outsiders watching, offensive linesman Kevin Hart of Fernley High School in Nevada was enjoying the best day of his life.

In February of 2008, With a packed high school gymnasium and friends and family cheering him on, Kevin Hart announced that he had chosen Cal over Oregon and would be playing football there in the fall.

The only problem?

Cal had never heard of Kevin Hart.

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This was one of those situations where a small lie turns into a mountain of lies.

Kevin Hart was a decent offensive linesman but had repeatedly been told that he likely wasn't good enough to receive a scholarship from a top school.

Maybe try us again as a walk-on, several schools told Hart.

Hart, however, would tell anybody who would listen that he was being scouted by several big schools, including Oregon and others.

When people at his high school would ask Hart about which college he was going to, he would tell them that he was trying to narrow down his list and that he was in demand.

Hart was improving as an offensive linesman, though some people who played against him doubted that he was good enough to play at a big school.

Hart, however, continued the deception. Hart continued the deception to his friends, teammates and family.

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As his story started to collapse, Hart maintained that he was being scouted by several big schools.

In fact, when confronted with information that Cal wasn't aware of who he was, Hart continued the lie, saying that Cal was being intentionally dishonest in order to keep their interest from the public.

Instead of giving up and admitting his lies, Hart went so far as to announce his intentions to play for Cal at a jam-packed press conference in his high school gym. Hart put the Cal hat on his head and said he was pleased to be taking his talents to Cal in the fall.

At this point, word got back to Cal, who reached out to officials at Hart's high school.

There was no scholarship offer on the table to Hart. None had been offered. Cal wasn't even sure who Kevin Hart was.

At this point, after months and months of lying, Hart finally came clean - he had been lying the entire time. There was no interest from Cal, and no interest from any of the schools that were supposedly in the mix for his services. Hart finally told his family that he had been lying.

For Hart, the punishment was an extreme amount of embarrassment at his high school. There was no D1 school that was interested, though Hart eventually did get an offer from a junior college which he gratefully accepted. Letters pored in from all over the country, though most of them were supportive - you're just a kid and everyone makes mistakes.

The fallout for Hart's high school football coach was worse, as he would eventually lose his job. People around the country asked - how could Hart's coach have fallen for such a blatant lie? Wouldn't someone from Cal have called Hart's coach to ask him questions? Wouldn't someone from Cal have scouted Hart and introduced himself to Hart's coaches? Kevin Hart's coach looked ridiculous in the aftermath of the scandal and he eventually lost his job.