Mecole Hardman is a Super Bowl champion again, but this year’s ring would have felt extra special for the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver.
The first reason why is obvious: he caught the game-winning pass in overtime. The second reason is the path he took to get there, leaving the Chiefs last offseason and joining the New York Jets, only to return to Kansas City in midseason.
Hardman had something to say about Jet’s five-game tenure on an episode of “The Pivot Podcast” published Tuesday.
Specifically, Hardman did not have a high opinion of the Jets’ offensive coaching staff, which he felt gave preferential treatment to some players (he clearly did not) and was not well prepared for Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending injury:
“I’m not trying to bash anyone, but you guys are treating certain guys that shouldn’t be treated the way they’re being treated. I don’t understand why you guys think I can’t compete with any of these guys, you’re all playing for me. I just feel like there’s There is no established coaching staff. You just got a new coaching staff and there is no standard there. Everyone does what they want to do.
“Granted, the defense is at a more settled level with the coaching staff on that side, so you can see the defense has a standard. But the offense is like, ‘We’ll figure it out. It’s Aaron’s show. ‘ Let Aaron do what Aaron does.” But then when Aaron goes down, it’s like, ‘We don’t know what to do.’ But it is the same coach who was without a job last year, but still managed to get a new job.”
That last line is said to be a reference to embattled Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who was fired as head coach of the Denver Broncos last offseason.
Mecole Hardman: Jets gave me ‘lies’
Hardman joined the Jets on a one-year, $4 million deal as part of an active offseason for the Jets, who also brought in Rodgers and his old friends Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard. Hardman isn’t the first person to criticize the Jets’ team building around Rodgers, but he certainly has more experience with a winning NFL team than most of those critics.
The Chiefs drafted Hardman in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft and have since reached four Super Bowls, winning three of them. Before that, he played on two Georgia teams that reached the SEC championship game. He noted some key differences between the Jets and Chiefs locker rooms:
“You can’t tell me anything about winning. I’ve been to four Super Bowls in five years now. Before that, I’d been to four SEC Championships and three Super Bowls. I’ve won two of them. I know what Winning looks like. I know what winning is, so you guys keep telling me certain things and I’m not going for it because you’re all not doing it right.
“People feel like there are too individual egos in that locker room. I tell them, ‘That’s not going to let you all win. That’s not going to happen.’ You’ve got the KC locker room, it’s Pat, it’s me, it’s Trav, it’s Nick Allegretti, it’s Noah Gray. We’re all on the same level. Nobody gets treated differently. When Coach Reid says, ‘We don’t wear yellow shoes in practice’ and Pat goes out and wears yellow cleats, Pat goes back in and changes his cleats. Everybody treated the same.”
Hardman said his biggest problem with the Jets coaching staff was lying to him about how much they would use him in a game, with playing time instead going to receivers he thought were inferior:
“You all tell me certain things, like ‘Let me get you some plays, let’s get you involved in the game plan.’ But I’ve made two plays. You can’t tell me that. I’d rather you say to me, ‘I feel better with these guys than with you, we’ll find out later.’ Okay, I can handle that.
“I’m a grown man. I understand that. But if you keep telling me lies and telling me lies and saying certain things, it doesn’t sit well with me because I know for a fact that I’m better than me.” him for sure. I know I’m better than him, I’m better than him too. Garrett Wilson is the only person you should say to, “Okay, you can go.”
In case you’re wondering, here’s a list of Jets wide receivers who got more snaps than Hardman last season before he was traded on Oct. 18: Wilson, Lazard, Cobb and Xavier Gipson.
Hardman ultimately left the Jets after catching just one pass in five games with no starts.
Mecole Hardman takes another dig at Niners’ OT decision
It also wouldn’t be an interview with a Chiefs Super Bowl champion without a dig at the San Francisco 49ers’ decision to get the ball first in Super Bowl overtime. Although the rules are basically designed to make it a difficult decision, some Niners players admitted after the game that they were unaware the rules had changed.
“I don’t know why they took the ball, that’s the crazy thing. When they kicked the field goal, Pat said, ‘It’s over.’
“When they grabbed the ball, we thought: ‘Then they probably don’t know the rules.'”
But Hardman probably shouldn’t be quick to judge that. He didn’t know the rules either.