Mecole Hardman

BIOGRAPHY

Carey Mecole Hardman was born on March 12th, 1998, in Bowman, Georgia. He is a wide receiver in the NFL. 

Hardman attended Elbert County High School to play football and was selected to represent the East in the 2016 U.S. Army All-America Bowl. He scored a TD in the 2016 International Bowl against Canada and was an American Family Insurance 2015 USA Today All-USA Second Team defense. He was the 2015 Georgia Sports Writers Association Class AAA Offensive Player of the Year, was part of the 2015 Georgia Sports Writers Association Class AAA First Team offense and was part of the 2015 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Super 11 in Georgia and Class AAA All-State offense. He played both quarterback and defensive back in high school and led Elbert County to an 11-3 record and a trip to the quarterfinals of the 2015 GHSA Class AAA playoffs.

After finishing high school, Hardman committed to the University of Georgia to play colled football. As a freshman in 2016, he appeared in 11 games and saw his first playing time at Mizzou. He had special teams tackles in four games with two stops each against Florida and Louisiana. He also saw action on kickoff return unit vs. Kentucky,  Auburn, and Louisiana and also returned one kickoff 17 yards against the Ragin' Cajuns. As a sophomore in 2017, Hardman played in 15 games, making one start, finishing the season with 25 catches for 418 yards and 6 TDs. He also had 1255 all-purpose yards, including season-high 203 against Auburn1. He was named the Vince Dooley Special Teams MVP at the team’s post-season awards gala...ranked 8th nationally in punt returns, which was first in the SEC, at 11.8 yards and 21st in KO returns, which was 2nd in the SEC, at 25.3 yards. He matched a season-high with four receptions in the SEC Championship game for 67 yards and hauled in his first career touchdown from Jake Fromm to put Georgia up 7-0 in the first quarter against Samford. 

In his junior year in 2018, Hardman started five of 14 games and was Georgia’s second-leading receiver, with 34 catches for 532 yards and seven TDs and was also the stellar kick returner. He was one of two winners of the Kevin Butler Special Teams Award at the team's post-season awards gala and had his only career punt return TD against Middle Tennessee State and by the end of the season, he was named to the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll. After graduating from college, Hardman entered the 2019 NFL Draft and was selected in the second round by the Kansas City Chiefs. 

In Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals, Hardman had three receptions for 16 yards and a touchdown. In Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers, Hardman recorded four catches for 32 yards and a receiving touchdown to go along with 28 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He became the first wide receiver in the Super Bowl era to get two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown in the same game. He was placed on injured reserve on November 17, 2022 after suffering an abdomen injury in Week 9. Hardman was activated off of injured reserve on January 4, 2023. Hardman did return in the AFC Championship Game but injured his abdominal and was deactivated for Super Bowl LVII. The Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38–35 to give Hardman his second Super Bowl win.

Hardman signed with the New York Jets on March 23, 2023. He would be traded to the Chiefs later that same year.