The New York Jets made waves earlier this week after they alleged that former wide receiver for the team, Mecole Hardman leaked game plans to opposing NFL teams. The wideout was with the Jets for five weeks in the 2023-24 season. He was then traded back to the Kansas City Chiefs where he spent the rest of the year and came up clutch during the team’s Super Bowl victory.
Stephen A. Smith, the face of ESPN and host of First Take addressed the situation and believes Mecole Hardman should respond at the earliest to these allegations and if the team fails to produce any concrete proof towards these claims, in such an instance, the wideout should resort to legal action.
Here is what Stephen A. Smith had to say:
If there is a hole in (their allegations)...that's grounds for a lawsuit. If they are false because that's a career ender. What locker room could he possibly go in if somebody believes that's possibly true? If evidence came out that this is remotely true, what locker room could he go in? He got to speak up today and if the Jets are wrong, he got to consider legal action. Stephen A. Smith said
Stephen A. Smith says Mecole Hardman has grounds for a lawsuit if the allegations of him leaking the Jets' game plan aren't true.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 1, 2024
"That's a career-ender. What locker room could he possibly go in if somebody believes it's true?… if the Jets are wrong, he got to consider legal… pic.twitter.com/bI3BsYdHjK
The analyst is right in urging Hardman to not let the Jets go without making them pay. To accuse a player of leaking game plans is nothing short of a move to sabotage their career. It ruins the credibility of the athlete and creates a cloud around him. No matter where he goes, it will not be easy for his teammates to trust him in the locker room.
Smith further added;
Seriously, because it doesn't get any worse than this as an indictment against a player. Stephen A. Smith added
Mecole Hardman took some time to respond to these allegations but he vehemently denied them via a Tweet. He cleared his name and said:
I have never been a person to give an opponent an upper hand I always want to win no matter the circumstances! Mecole Hardman wrote on X
There were FALSE accusations made about me and MY CHARACTER! To set the record straight, I have never and would never leak gameplans to another team. I have never been a person to give an opponent an upper hand I always want to win no matter the circumstances!!!!!
— Mecole Hardman Jr. (@MecoleHardman4) March 1, 2024
Mecole Hardman was not given an opportunity to prove himself with the New York Jets. Some of the players who accused him of leaking the game plan were Sauce Gardner, Thomas Morstead , and Kenny Yeboah who claimed the wideout was so frustrated with the team that he sent their offensive game plan to their opponents such as the Philadelphia Eagles. It is unlikely that Hardman will resort to legal action, after all, he will go down as a Super Bowl champion, a feat the Jets can only dream of accomplishing.
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