Jets Punter Claps Back at Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman for Bashing Former Team

Kansas City Chiefs wideout Mecole Hardman got an earful from the New York Jets punter.

New York Jets punter Thomas Morstead already is beloved by his team’s fans for his distinguished feats in the 2023 season. What he said in response to ex-teammate Mecole Hardman, however, likely will make Gang Green supporters appreciate him even more.

After Hardman spoke ill of the Jets in a recent appearance on ESPN personality Ryan Clark’s The Pivot podcast, Morstead stepped up on social media to defend his team.

Morstead implied that Hardman’s harsh criticism of the Jets may have stemmed from bitterness over the fact that the wideout lost the Jets’ punt returning job to undrafted rookie Xavier Gipson.

“Be careful getting information from disgruntled former employees,” Morstead tweeted Wednesday. “Getting beat out by a rookie free agent after being guaranteed millions of dollars is tough to deal with. Entitlement is a killer of opportunity. You have to earn it every year.”

Jets punter Thomas Morstead stuck up for his team in response to criticism from former teammate Mecole Hardman :: Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this week, Hardman, who joined the Kansas City Chiefs last October and went on to win Super Bowl LVIII, tore into the Jets organization for failing to have a backup plan after Aaron Rodgers’s injury. Hardman said, “It’s the lies and the way they handled me. I didn’t like it at all.”

Like Hardman, Morstead also joined the Jets last offseason, but unlike Hardman, he’s since made an impressionable impact in his first year with the team. In 2023, the 37-year-old punter recorded a league-high total punting yardage of 4,831 yards, averaging 48.8 yards per punt.