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.”
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.
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
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]