Mecole Hardman had his Super Bowl 2024 moment, only to see it go to waste on the next play.
The Jets castaway made one of the Chiefs’ biggest plays in the first half against the 49ers on Sunday night.
Patrick Mahomes was able to hit Hardman with a 52-yard pass that put Kansas City on the San Francisco 9-yard line for the longest reception of the game to that point.
The catch came at a crucial point of the first half with the Chiefs down 3-0, but the excitement was short-lived.
On the very next play, Isiah Pacheco fumbled as he tried to advance the ball by rushing up the left side of the field.
Deommodore Lenoir knocked the ball loose and recovered the fumble giving the 49ers possession back.
The Chiefs caught a break with the 49ers having to punt the ball away on the ensuing possession.
The catch had been Hardman’s only reception of the game to that point and looked as though the former Jet was going to change the course of the game.
Hardman had started the year with Gang Green after signing during the offseason, but things never panned out the way either he or the team had hoped.
The Jets never really utilized him and then he was traded to the Chiefs in October.
“Things definitely didn’t go like I wanted it to go. I guess I just wasn’t on the same page with everybody,” Hardman said earlier this week about his time with the Jets. “There’s no bad blood over there. I’m happy for everybody over there. I’m still cool with some of those guys. I wish them the best. I think things happened like it was supposed to.”
Things very clearly worked out well in the end for Hardman who was playing in Super Bowl 2024 on Sunday, while the Jets season had come to an end in Week 18.
