CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Is there anything Greg Hardy, aka "The Kraken," can't do?

The Carolina Panthers defensive end is a proven pass-rusher with a team-best 15 sacks this season. He has suggested he could play receiver and beat LeBron James in a game of one-on-one basketball, which he played for a year in college.

On Friday, he added kicking field goals to his assortment of talents.

"Talk to coach [Ron] Rivera. See if he'll let me kick one through," Hardy said during the final media availability before Sunday's NFC playoff game against San Francisco. "I did it in high school. It's all I'm saying."

So I asked. Rivera laughed.

"It wouldn't surprise me," he said. "He really is a heck of an athlete."

Hardy didn't rule out that he could kick a 53-yarder like the one Graham Gano had to beat the 49ers 10-9 at Candlestick Park on Nov. 10.

"He can kick field goals?" Gano said when told of Hardy's desire to be a kicker. "Man. Is there anything that beats a Kraken?"

Punter Brad Nortman, standing a few feet away, replied, "No. That's why he's so good."

Gano didn't sound convinced.

"So is this Greg Hardy saying he can do this or The Kraken?" he asked, referring to the mythical character Hardy uses as his alternate persona. "If Greg Hardy is saying this, I don't think he can do this. But if The Kraken is speaking, I think it's possible."

Hardy will have plenty to keep him busy -- chasing quarterback Colin Kaepernick and trying to shut down the San Francisco running game. He didn't have any of the six sacks Carolina had in the first meeting, but said on Friday "hopefully I get about 10 of them."

Sacks?

"Ten anything," Hardy said. "It's better than zero. As in 10 points. A touchdown, kick a field goal."

This is where the interview turned to Hardy kicking field goals. For the record, Gano isn't willing to step aside.

"No," he said. "I'm going to be selfish in that respect."