Mecole Hardman Alleged Tampering Says More About Himself Than Eagles or Jets

The only ones who looked truly bad during this week's run of alleged tampering and game-sharing aren't the Philadelphia Eagles or New York Jets, but receiver Mecole Hardman, who is being accused.

What is more embarrassing: losing to a team where you had their entire gameplan for, or being the team that had their entire gameplan leaked in the first place?

The right answer may be neither. 

USA Today

That's the hard reality facing both the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles this week after several Jets players have begun accusing former wide receiver Mecole Hardman of leaking the offensive gameplan to the Eagles ahead of their Week 6 contest. 

New York still ended up winning the matchup 20-14, which marked Philly's first loss of the season.

Hardman was traded from the team just a week later to the Kansas City Chiefs, another organization that the receiver is accused of not only leaking the offensive gameplan for but also tampering. 

Speaking on Ryan Clark's Pivot Podcast, the former second-round pick out of Georgia told the hosts that he was in contact with the Kansas City front office and quarterback Patrick Mahomes to "come get me" after accusing the Jets of misusing him after signing a one-year free-agent deal. It appears his disgruntled attitude left him with no choice but to actively help out opposing teams while still on the Jets. 

Now, the Eagles could be criticized for losing a game to a team for which they allegedly had their gameplan for. But having a gameplan doesn't take away from the four turnovers Philadelphia committed during the contest - a clear reason why the Birds lost their eventual first game of the year. 

Turnovers are a part of the game and sometimes great teams struggle to beat those of lesser talent. It's why the San Francisco 49ers were bested by the Minnesota Vikings or why the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Las Vegas Raiders at home. 

It's also not an indictment on the Jets, either.

Players coming out and defending the organization's honor because a disgruntled employee wanted to make them the but of a joke isn't the kind of embarrassing piece of news people want to make it.

If anything, the biggest loser in this whole week-long news dump is Hardman himself. Not only could he cost the team that traded for him a potential draft pick for tampering, but there are now charges of being a gameplan leak for when he's disgruntled with how he is being used. 

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Should these accusations become confirmed, Hardman (a free agent) could very well be ignored by every other team in the NFL that wouldn't want to deal with this kind of problem. 

And now that there is video proof of him talking about the Chiefs tampering, there may not be a single team that would want to bring a player like Hardman to their roster. 

For a player who caught the game-winning touchdown pass in Super Bowl LVIII just a few weeks ago, Hardman may have sunk his entire professional career with one interview. 

That alone absolves what the Eagles and Jets weren't able to do this year.