Carey Mecole Hardman Jr. (born March 12, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and was drafted by the Chiefs in the second round of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

Early years

Hardman attended

Elbert County High School Elbert County High School is a four-year public comprehensive high school located in Elbert County, Georgia, United States. It serves the students of Elberton and Elbert County. The school colors are navy and white. The Blue Devils compete in GHSA ...

Elbert County, Georgia Elbert County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,637. The county seat is Elberton. The county was established on December 10, 1790, and was named for Samuel ...

. A five-star recruit, he committed to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

to play college football.

College career

Hardman played at Georgia from 2016 to 2018. During his career, he had 60 receptions for 961 yards and 11

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. As a return specialist, he had 39 punt returns for 592 yards and a touchdown and 35 kick returns for 875 yards. One significant touchdown came in his sophomore year against

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

in the

College Football Playoff National Championship The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season. ...

. He caught an 80-yard pass from

Jake Fromm William Jacob Fromm (born July 30, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of t ...

in the third quarter of the 26–23 overtime loss. After his junior season, he decided to forgo his senior year and enter the

College statistics

Professional career

Hardman was selected by the

in the second round with the 56th overall pick in the

. He was the fifth wide receiver selected that year.

2019 season

During Week 2 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, Hardman caught four passes for 61 yards and his first NFL touchdown in the 28–10 road victory. In the Week 3 game against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

, he caught two passes for 97 yards including an 83-yard receiving touchdown. The Chiefs defeated the Ravens 33-28. During a Week 10 35-32 road loss against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, Hardman had a 63-yard touchdown on his only reception of the game. On December 17, Hardman was named to the Pro Bowl. In the regular-season finale against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

, Hardman caught a 30-yard reception and returned a kickoff for a 104 yard touchdown in the 31–21 win. Hardman had a single reception for two yards while returning three kicks for a total of 58 yards and the Chiefs went on to win

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

by a score of 31-20.

2020 season

During a Week 3 game against the

, Hardman caught four passes for 81 yards including a 49-yard receiving touchdown. The Chiefs won 34-20. In a Week 8 35-9 victory against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, Hardman caught seven passes for 96 yards including a 30-yard receiving touchdown. On November 11, 2020, Hardman was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and was activated on November 21. Hardman missed no games while on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but his snaps were limited in the Chiefs' Week 11 victory against the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

. His only reception in the game came on the team's game-winning drive with 1:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. In the Chiefs' Week 14 victory over the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, Hardman returned a punt for 67 yards for a touchdown, the first punt return touchdown of his career. Overall, Hardman recorded 41 receptions for 560 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns to go along with a punt return touchdown in the 2020 season. In the AFC Championship Game against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, Hardman muffed a punt return that the Bills recovered at the 3-yard line which was later converted into a touchdown. However, on the next Chiefs drive, Hardman caught a touchdown pass and later rushed for a 50-yard jet sweep. The Chiefs would win 38–24 advancing to

Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Conferen ...

. In the Super Bowl, Hardman caught two passes for four yards in a 31–9 loss to the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

2021 season

In the 2021 season, Hardman played in all 17 games and recorded 59 receptions for 693 yards and two touchdowns while handling a majority of the punt return duties. In the postseason, Hardman scored a rushing touchdown in the Divisional Round and a receiving touchdown in the AFC Championship.

2022 season

In Week 1 against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, Hardman had three receptions for 16 yards and a touchdown. In Week 7 against the

, 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 The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

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.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Kansas City Chiefs bioGeorgia Bulldogs bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardman, Mecole 1998 births Living people People from Elbert County, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football return specialists American football wide receivers Georgia Bulldogs football players Kansas City Chiefs players