While Mecole Hardman Jr. famously said he “blacked out” while catching the game winning touchdown pass during Super Bowl LVIII, he does remember what Taylor Swift told him afterward.
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“I think she was like, ‘Good job, proud of you, good game. Like, man it was crazy,’” Hardman, 25, said during the Tuesday, February 27, episode of the “Pivot Podcast.”
The Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver added that Swift, 34, also mentioned his magic tricks after the win. He explained that when the pair first met, he performed a trick with a deck of cards — which the pop star thought was “crazy.”
“Everytime she sees me, she talks about it,” he said. “So then she was like … ‘Your hands are magical,’ or something. Like, ‘You catch the game-winning touchdown.’ So that was kinda cool, [her] saying that.”
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During the Super Bowl LVIII game earlier this month, Hardman caught the touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes in overtime, leading the Chiefs to a 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
“I ain’t gonna lie, man, I caught that pass and I blacked out,” Hardman said during the CBS postgame broadcast. “I didn’t know what was going on until I saw Pat running to me and I was like, ‘Oh, we just won? Let’s celebrate!’”
When recalling the play, Hardman said on Today that “the magnitude of the moment” got to him.
“But all I can remember is, after I caught it, I just see [Mahomes] running to me, like, ‘You’re a champion!’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, we won! OK, bet.’ And then I started celebrating. But I definitely don’t remember nothing after I caught [the] ball,” he said earlier this month.
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The game marked the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl win in recent years, following their victory in 2020 and 2023. Swift, who’s dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, supported the team at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas alongside several of her family members and close pals.
When asked whether Hardman felt a difference having Swift join Chiefs Kingdom, he said it didn’t really affect the team.
“To us, it wasn’t really nothing because it’s Trav, bro,” he said on Tuesday. “If anybody’s gonna do that, it’s Trav that’s going to get that, do that. It’s Travis who’s gonna do it. Trav is such a cool dude, and Taylor’s so cool, bro.”
Hardman continued, “Even like going to the crib, and, like, meeting her, and whatever type thing. He had a get together, even after the game, like, she’s so cool. … She just vibe.”
He joked that he attempted to play it cool when around Swift, but later thought, “Damn, that’s Taylor Swift.”
Mecole Hardman Jr. says Travis Kelce delivered fiery halftime speech at Super Bowl
Wide receiver Mecole Hardman had a fairly seamless transition back to the Chiefs after he was acquired in a November trade with the Jets.
But Hardman said he noticed one big change upon returning to the Chiefs. It was the leadership shown by tight end Travis Kelce.
Hardman joined the “Pivot Podcast” this week and talked about Kelce’s stirring message the night before Super Bowl LVIII.
“When I got back the leader he was was three, four times more powerful than it’d been since I’d been there. Off The Charts, bro,” said Hardman, who was drafted by the Chiefs in 2018 and played four seasons in KC before signing as a free agent with the Jets. “Like, I mean, the way he was leading practices. …
“His speech before the game, bro, Saturday. Like, let’s go through a wall. Like this is crazy.”
Hardman said Kelce was in tears at one point and other times he passionately raised his voice.
It was that emotion that led to Kelce’s sideline outburst directed at coach Andy Reid, Hardman believes. Kelce wasn’t angry, Hardman noted, it was just that Kelce badly wanted to win the game.
That passion carried over to halftime. The Chiefs trailed 10-3 and Kelce let his teammates know he wasn’t happy.
“Then we get to the locker room, he flipped the table, the train bike over, (saying) ‘This is what you want to leave out here? Let’s go get this.’ His leadership was top notch,” Hardman said. “The way he led, it was off the charts and you could see the differences even in the second half like the catches he was making and how he was getting open.”
Kelce had one reception for 1 yard at the half, but ended the game with game-highs in receptions and yards (nine for 93).
“You could feel that energy and the energy is contagious. The energy he has is contagious,” Hardman said. “He’s that spark, he’s that glue that held everybody together.”
You can watch the clip of Hardman talking about Kelce here.
