Sauce Gardner believes former Jets teammate Mecole Hardman never earned his stripes
Posted: Sat May 24, 2025 3:28 pm
				
				The reason didn't fit in with the Jets: "He never John Collins Jersey  earned his stripes."' cornerback is continuing to defend his team amid allegations by his former teammate turned recent Super Bowl champion.Gardner recently appeared on and clapped back at Hardman's harsh words regarding the Jets' culture and dysfunction last season.Hardman, who also appeared on "The Pivot" a few weeks ago, put himself in hot water with his former teammates after comments from his interview were released online.ADVERTISEMENT  Although he tried his best to walk a few back, like his near-confe sion about breaking the NFL tampering policy, Gardner and other teammates were already fuming."I feel like you can't really discredit the Jets. Especially him individually," Gardner said on the podcast."They sent you to a contender team. They sent you back to the and you just won the Super Bowl. I feel like that's ungrateful  he could have just taken the high road."It's been a few weeks since the initial exchange on social media between Hardman and Gardner, in which a since-deleted post by Clint Capela Jersey  Gardner called out the Chiefs wideout for allegedly leaking game plans.During Gardner's interview, he did not seem to want to attack Hardman's character, but rather set the record straight on why he did not fit in with the Jets."We're always around each other  in the locker room having fun  always talking to each other after practice. The reason he couldn't do that is because he never earned his stripes. He came into the facility and just thought he had it made for him.""If you know what it takes to win, you're not going Kevin Huerter Jersey  to go to practice and drop hella punts, and then have excuses as to why you're dropping them," Gardner continued."You're not going to go into a special teams meeting and Jaylen Adams Jersey  get cu sed out by the special teams coordinator. There's just certain things that aren't going to happen if you truly know what it takes to win."In the end, Gardner confe sed he was proud of Hardman's recent succe s with Kansas City, stating, "I'm actually proud of him for being able to go there and make those plays late in the season.""I'm sure when he came to the Jets, he wasn't expecting to go back to Kansas City that same year. I'm proud of him for being able to win a Super Bowl  for being able to make that catch to end the game." Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, Evan Turner Jersey  teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily. Read more:Mecole Hardman denies allegations of leaking game plans to Jets' opponentsMecole Hardman rips into Jets, opens Chiefs to potential tampering investigation FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience  National Football League  Sauce Gardner  Mecole Hardman  
			
