Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman accused of leaking game plans to opponents while with Jets
It’s been quite a week for Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman, but not in the way he would have liked.
Hardman appeared on “The Pivot” podcast and spoke about how miserable he was earlier in the 2023 season. After playing four seasons with the Chiefs, who drafted him in 2019, Hardman had signed last year with the Jets as a free agent.
In five games with the Jets, Hardman had just one reception for 6 yards, and New York traded him to the Chiefs in November. His season ended in the best possible way as Hardman caught the game-winning touchdown for the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.
The trade proved to be a godsend for Hardman. And he said on “The Pivot” podcast that he had reached out to the Chiefs to bring him back.
“I’m telling you right now, I was so checked out, like, it was over with,” Hardman said. “I had already talked to (Chiefs GM Brett) Veach and Pat (Mahomes), like, ‘Well, come get me.’”
Hardman backpedaled on that, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that he never spoke with the Chiefs before the trade.
Mecole Hardman: ‘I never had talks w/ the #Chiefs before the trade’
Also Mecole Hardman: ‘I was so checked out like it’s over I already talked with [Brett] Veach & Pat [Mahomes] like bro come get me boy. What are y’all doing? Who we talking about? Come get me!‘
Uhm…… https://t.co/r5vY5IZR2m pic.twitter.com/hMxY6XOFHW— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) February 28, 2024
Still, the Jets noted what Hardman said.
“I’ll just say those comments definitely resonated with us,” general manager Joe Douglas told reporters Wednesday at the NFL Combine, per ESPN.
Later on Wednesday, NFL reporter Connor Hughes of SNY-TV shared this: “there was validated belief from the #Jets that WR Mecole Hardman, frustrated by his lack-of usage, leaked game plans to the opposition, as implied by several players (Sauce Gardner, Kenny Yeboah) today.”
Gardner, the Jets star cornerback, shared a message on X that he later deleted that said: “We ain’t gon talk about how our offensive gameplan got leaked vs. the Eagles tho”
Deleted tweet from Sauce Gardner pic.twitter.com/wssNy1Jf5h
— The Jet Press (@TheJetPress) February 28, 2024
Yeboah also deleted a tweet about Hardman. When asked about Hardman, Yeboah wrote: “He’s tripping out, he ain’t talking about his own work ethic and how the Georgia eagles got our game plan”
#Jets Kenny Yeboah has now also alluded to Mecole Hardman leaking the Jets’ offensive gameplan to the #Eagles
“He's [Mecole Hardman] is tripping out, he ain't talk about his own work ethic and how the Georgia eagles got our game plan ” https://t.co/Ctp0h0kKbU pic.twitter.com/cxWuDQb3IW— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 28, 2024
The Eagles have a number of former Georgia players, and that’s where Hardman went to college.
Oddly, two of the better games played by the Jets this season were the win over the Eagles and the tight loss to the Chiefs on “Sunday Night Football.”