James Alan Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a retired Australian rules footballer and former captain of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Primarily a midfielder–half forward, 1.88 metres (6 ft 2 in) tall and weighing 90 kilograms (198 lb), Hird was often given free rein by Essendon coaches to play wherever he thought warranted. He was the joint winner of the 1996 Brownlow Medal with Brisbane midfielder Michael Voss...
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James Alan Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a retired Australian rules footballer and former captain of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Primarily a midfielder–half forward, 1.88 metres (6 ft 2 in) tall and weighing 90 kilograms (198 lb), Hird was often given free rein by Essendon coaches to play wherever he thought warranted. He was the joint winner of the 1996 Brownlow Medal with Brisbane midfielder Michael Voss, as a half forward.
James Hird was recruited from the Ainslie Football Club in Canberra, in the 1990 AFL draft. Due to a serious hip injury along with other injuries in his junior football career, he was not selected until pick number 79, Essendon's 7th and one of the last in the draft.
In his first season, 1991, Hird sat on the sidelines for most of the season with constant injuries hampering him. At the end of the season, a vote was held on whether to delist him. The majority (4-2) voted in favour of Hird being delisted, although coach...
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