When Mecole Hardman caught a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII, it didn’t just win the Super Bowl for the Kansas City Chiefs. It also ended the NFL season and opened the door to what has already been a wild offseason for Hardman.
While Hardman finished the 2023 season with the Chiefs, he started it with the New York Jets. One of the games he played for New York was against Kansas City.
On Wednesday, Connor Hughes, who covers New York football for SNY, shared an opinion that at least some Jets believe that Hardman might have given his team’s game plan information to both the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles ahead of their 2023 games with the Jets.
“Yes, I’m told 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,” Hughes tweeted. “Not just the #Eagles game, but also the #Chiefs.”
Yes, I’m told 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.
Not just the #Eagles game, but also the #Chiefs.… pic.twitter.com/d6LlvPnDaJ
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) February 29, 2024
What’s interesting is that, as Hughes noted, those were two of the best Jets performances of the season.
New York narrowly (and controversially) lost 23-20 to the Chiefs in Week 4. Two weeks later, the Jets handed the Eagles their first loss of the season.
Nevertheless, this allegation got a lot of attention on Wednesday night.
So 2 of our best games last season, the other team had the game plan ahead of time
Sure didn’t help them 😂
But there better be consequences
— Harrison Glaser (@NYJetsTFMedia) February 29, 2024
Come on, man. Zach Wilson already had it hard enough. https://t.co/J72QbGzCbU
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) February 29, 2024
This is just an absolutely ridiculous story 😂 How unhappy do you have to be to leak TWO separate game plans? https://t.co/A7J0Z0ac3V
— Brandyn Pokrass (@BPok24) February 29, 2024
This should be national news. A professional athlete impacted the integrity of a game by leaking gameplans to an opponent.
Absolutely insane. Shameful from @MecoleHardman4 https://t.co/J8fENsumLp
— NYJ Matt (@NYJ_Matt) February 29, 2024
Good luck to Mecole Hardman on ever getting another job in the league if this turns out to be true. https://t.co/kEJwg1yoci
— Jake Asman (@JakeAsman) February 29, 2024
Holy freaking crap!
I don’t care how frustrated you’re about your role, leaking gameplans to opponents you’re playing?
That breaks every written & unwritten rule in the game. How can he ever be let back in a locker room again after breaking code? How could you ever trust him? https://t.co/C0UJGGkhhS
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) February 29, 2024
These allegations come on the heels of other comments made by Hardman on Ryan Clark’s Pivot podcast. Among other things, Hardman revealed potential tampering by the Chiefs, specifically Mahomes and general manager Brett Veach.
[Connor Hughes on Twitter/X]
