Mecole Hardman Defends Himself Against Accusations: 'Would Never Leak Game Plans'
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman is saying that he's not a rat.
The former Jet-turned-Chief defended himself on X last night after reports came out that Hardman leaked the Jets offensive playbook last season before New York played the Eagles and the Chiefs. Hardman reportedly did, so after he became frustrated that he wasn't being used enough.
For any Curb Your Enthusiasm fans out there, some Jets players are now insinuating that Hardman was "Mr. Disgruntled." (Watch the latest Curb episode and you'll understand.)
HARDMAN DEFENDS HIMSELF AFTER RIPPING JETS
"There were FALSE accusations made about me and MY CHARACTER! To set the records straight, I would never and would never leak game plans to another team," Hardman tweeted.
"I have never been a person to give an opponent an upper hand. I always want to win no matter the circumstances," he continued before adding way too many exclamation points.
Hardman's denial comes after going scorched-Earth on his former team earlier this week during an interview on The Pivot Podcast in which he said the Jets were clueless on what to do after Aaron Rodgers went down with a season-ending Achilles injury. Hardman also said that he was "so checked out, like, it was over with," just a few weeks into the season.
MR. DISGRUNTLED?
Hardman saw only 28 snaps with only one catch in five games with the Jets last season. He would eventually be traded to the Chiefs, where he would ruin Jets fans' lives even more after catching the game-winning touchdown during this past Super Bowl.
Meanwhile the Jets finished 7-10 for the second year in a row, while finishing below .500 for the eighth consecutive year. Last season they had four different quarterbacks including Tim Boyle for some reason, as well as have had TWENTY ONE different offensive line combinations in the past two years.
Seems like the Jets just actually stink - regardless if the other team has their plays or not. Hell, I bet the Jets would still lose if they had THEIR opponents' gameplan.
JETS ACCUSE HARDMAN OF BEING THE LEAKER
The always-outspoken Sauce Gardner responded to Hardman's comments by insinuating that the 3x Super Bowl Champion was responsible for the playbook leak. "We ain't gonna talk about how our offensive gameplan got leaked vs. the Eagles tho," Gardner wrote in a since deleted tweet.
Jets tight end Kenny Yeboah jumped in as well, saying that Hardman was "tripping out," during the Pivot interview, while also suggesting that it was interesting how the ‘Georgia Eagles,’ were able to get New York's plays. Philadelphia has multiple former Georgia Bulldog players that play on their defense where, coincidentally, Hardman also played in college.
New York punter Thomas Morstead also went after his former teammate.
SNY reporter Connor Hughes said that there was a "validated belief" within the team and organization that Hardman did in fact leak the Jets' playbook last season. Hardman.
Did Mecole Hardman pull the old "If you can't beat em, join em" with the Chiefs? More importantly - would it even have made a difference? If the Jets are using the alleged leaking of their playbook as a reason for last year's dismal season, the organization is in much dire straits than originally thought.
Meanwhile Hardman now has three fingers with Super Bowl rings on them.