The 2023-24 campaign was a wild ride for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman, to say the least.
Hardman began the season with the New York Jets after signing with the team via free agency last spring. However, he was barely used, logging just one catch for six yards during his time with the Jets.
New York proceeded to trade Hardman to the Chiefs at the deadline in October, reuniting him with the club where he spent the first four years of his NFL career.
Hardman then went on to catch the game-winning touchdown of the Super Bowl, lifting Kansas City to a win over the San Francisco 49ers and cementing his place in football lore.
During a recent appearance on The Pivot podcast, Hardman was discussing his journey and kind of, sort of accidentally admitted to tampering throughout the process of the Chiefs-Jets trade.
“I was so checked out like, it’s over,” Hardman said of his time with the Jets. “I already talked with [Brett] Veach and Pat [Mahomes] like bro come get me boy. What are y’all doing? Who we talking about? Come get me!”
Essentially, Hardman was fed up in New York and apparently reached out to Veach (the Chiefs’ general manager) and Mahomes about a trade.
Now, the NFL can launch an investigation to see exactly what went on.
It should be noted that if the Jets granted Hardman permission to seek a trade, him contacting Kansas City would have been fair game. However, there is no public record of this occurring, so unless it happened behind closed doors, the Chiefs could find themselves in some deep trouble here.
In six regular-season games with Kansas City this past year, Mecole Hardman caught 14 passes for 118 yards.
The 25-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of Georgia, was selected by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
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