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 six 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.

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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.”

Hardy grew up on Clark Road in Vanceboro, which Wright described as a “family road” that cut through land his great-grandfather acquired a century ago.

Wright said everyone who lived on the road was related – more or less.

“When everyone’s on the same road it’s like everyone’s cousins,” he said. “There is not first, second or third.”

Wright starred for West Craven High before going off to South Carolina and the NFL. Hardy’s older brother Bryan was a quarterback who played at South Carolina State before transferring to Division II Fayetteville State.

As a high school junior, Hardy was a starting receiver on a West Craven team that played for the state title. Between his brother and cousin, Hardy had plenty of opportunities to refine his routes.

Despite being 15 years older than Hardy, Wright didn’t go easy on him when the two would go to their high school or a field off Clark Road to practice.

“I was throwing it to him as hard as I could throw it, and he was catching it,” said Wright, a volunteer assistant at Hough High and a private quarterback coach in Charlotte.

“When you’re dealing with these high school kids, you go out there and you’ve got to play hard against them,” he said. “It’s like, ‘OK, if you want to play college ball you’re going to have to catch these kind of passes.’ So I was throwing him the ball and he was snagging them out of the air. ... He always had the hands to be able to catch any kind of ball.”

When Hardy moved to quarterback as a senior, Wright worked with him on his throwing motion and making the correct reads.

Fayetteville State recruited Hardy as a quarterback. But when his high school coach took game tape of Hardy to ECU, Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill was interested.

McNeill, a former Texas Tech assistant, said Hardy reminded him of Michael Crabtree, a high school quarterback who became one of the country’s top receivers for the Red Raiders.

“When we watched Justin we saw the same thing that we saw out of Michael – a guy with elusive moves, very athletic and being a quarterback you know he’s a leader and smart,” McNeill said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “So we said, ‘Look, c’mon.’”

Unfortunately for Hardy, the Pirates didn’t have any scholarships available. So he walked on and spent his freshman year making circus catches for the scout team against the first-team defense.

“I wish I could get the practice clips from East Carolina,” said McNeill, now a Virginia assistant. “He made catches behind his back and he doesn’t act like it’s a big deal because it’s natural for him.”

McNeill said Hardy made an incredible, one-handed touchdown catch against Florida Atlantic like the one that made Odell Beckham Jr. famous.

Hardy wasn’t just making great catches, he was making a lot of them.

He finished with an NCAA-record 387 receptions – mark that stood for two years before his former Pirates teammate Isaiah Jones (399) broke it this past season.

Hardy said ECU was “about to become the new Receiver U – it’s crazy.”

McNeill said Hardy – whose 10-inch hands are the same size as Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz – and Jones are good receivers in part because they attack the ball with their hands.

“I can’t describe it. I just have to show it to you on film,” McNeill said. “But when you see it – and I saw it with Justin – they just snatch it.”

When counseling high school quarterbacks, Wright says he often points to Hardy as someone who would not be deterred.

“I mean, he walked on (at ECU). He’s an inspiration,” Wright said. “I use him as an example when I talk to other kids, kids that are coming out of high school and trying to make a (college) decision on what they want to do. Some kids may be good but may not have the offers they really want. So I always refer back to him.”

After being drafted by Atlanta, Hardy had 21 passes in each of his first two NFL seasons.

He was one of 13 receivers who caught a touchdown from Ryan this season, an NFL record. Ryan was asked on Monday if he could name all 13; he missed two.

Every Super Bowl features at least one under-the-radar player who grabs the spotlight with a clutch play or unexpected contribution (see Kony Ealy’s performance for Carolina last season).

Hardy, who says he’s defied the odds “my whole life,” thinks he could be that guy Sunday night – either by catching a couple of Ryan passes or forcing a fumble on special teams.

“I can do a lot,” Hardy said. “I definitely can do a lot.”

Joseph Person: 704-358-5123, @josephperson

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