Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman Breaks Silence on Reunion With KC

Getty Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman.

On October 18, the Kansas City Chiefs traded a 2025 sixth-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for wide receiver Mecole Hardman and a 2025 seventh-round pick.

Hardman, who was drafted by the Chiefs in 2019 and was with the team until this offseason, is making his return to Chiefs Kingdom after signing a one-year, $4 million with the Jets.

Speaking to Chiefs media for the first time this season on October 19, Hardman, 25, detailed his reaction to his reunion with Kansas City.

“Honestly, I kind of look at it as things happen for a reason,” Hardman said during his press conference. “I think to myself, I kind of got more arrogant inside, in a sense, but kind of one of those things [where] God was sitting me down and letting me know, ‘I can take this game away from you at any time.’ One of those things that you have to sit back and look at things you’ve done and figure out what you were doing wrong or what it may be.

“Even though I was playing well, I still think God’s still got this last say-so on anything that you do. I think that’s kind of what hit me hard, and I got closer with him on that side and kind of leaned towards that. Like, ‘You know what? Let’s start to play this game for you rather than for myself and what comes with it.’ Now, it’s more so like, ‘whatever happens, happens.’ I’m just playing this game because I can, because he allows me to play it, and whatever comes along with it comes along with it.”

Mecole Hardman Details 10-Day Stay in Hospital

During his Thursday presser, Mecole Hardman detailed the injury that sidelined him for more than two months during the 2022 season. Hardman explained that he was diagnosed with osteitis pubis, which forced him into a hospital stay for 10 days due to being unable to walk at one point.

“People don’t really understand [that] I was in the hospital for 10 days,” Hardman explained. “I literally had no feeling in my leg for four days. I couldn’t walk for four or five days. And then finally I got the feeling back in my legs on probably, like, the sixth day and walked the next couple of days, then finally got discharged from the hospital and went on the road to recovery. Also to get back to play in the AFC Championship Game, which I was like 65-70% [healthy for]. I ended up tearing my groin on that play, the last play I played, which was a blessing in disguise for me, honestly, so I could really have surgery and repair everything.”

Hardman went on to explain that the general pain he was feeling from the injury caused him to get a maximum of 10 hours of sleep during his hospital stay. But he’s glad to have most passed a situation that he referred to as “scary as hell.”

Twitter Reacts to Mecole Hardman’s Return to Chiefs

Users on Twitter/X reacted to Mecole Hardman being traded to the Chiefs.

“I love this for the #Chiefs. It gets a trusted and familiar name back in the building to hopefully pick up some of the drops,” one user wrote. “Surprised #Cowboys or other contenders weren’t willing to swap late round picks to add depth.”

“Ok I’ll take it! He’s not good but he’s better than what we got,” another user wrote. “We can use his speed and we got him for a bag of peanuts.”