Former UGA wide receiver Mecole Hardman catches winning Super Bowl pass
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 11: Mecole Hardman of Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after his touchdown to 22:25 during the Super Bowl LVIII match between San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas,
ATLANTA - A Georgia native and former receiver for the University of Georgia caught the winning pass for the Kansas Chiefs in Sunday night's Super Bowl game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw a 3-yard pass to wide receiver Mecole Hardman with 3 seconds left in overtime.
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Hardman caught the pass to give the Chiefs their third Super Bowl victory in 5 seasons. Only 4 teams have won 3 championships in a 5-year span.
It was Hardman’s third catch in the game for 57 yards, as he had caught a 52-yard pass from Mahomes earlier.
Hardman said after the game that he didn't immediately realize the game was over and that they had won.
Hardman, a Bowman native and graduate of Elbert County High School, played under Coach Kirby Smart for the Georgia Bulldogs from 2016-2018. He has played for the Chiefs for the majority of his career, and this was his third Super Bowl. The Chiefs drafted Hardman in the 2nd round of the 2019 NFL draft.
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He wasn't the only Georgia player who did good in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday.
Decatur native Harrison Butker, kicker for Kansas City Chiefs, set the record for the longest field goal in a Super Bowl with a 57-yard kick. He beat the previous record by one yard.
This was Butker's 4th Super Bowl. The former player for Georgia Tech was also a hero in last year's Super Bowl game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Butker attended Westminster School in Atlanta.
Chris Conley, a wide receiver for the 49ers, played at North Paulding High School and UGA before being selected by the Chiefs in the 2015 NFL Draft. He now plays for the 49ers and pinned San Francisco 49ers punter Mitch Wishnowsky's 43-yard punt at the one-yard line during the Super Bowl. Additionally, Conley had a catch for 18 yards for the San Francisco 49ers, and Charlie Woerner, a tight end who graduated from Rabun County High School and played for UGA from 2016 to 2019, had a special teams tackle for the 49ers during the game.
Malik Herring, defensive end, was another former Georgia player who saw action Sunday night while playing for Kansas City. Herring graduated from Mary Persons High School in Forsyth.
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Jaylen Watson, a cornerback, didn't play in Georgia, but is an Augusta native. He was drafted by the Chiefs in the 7th round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Watson came up with one of the biggest plays in the Super Bowl when he recovered a 49ers fumble that led to a Chiefs go-ahead touchdown.
Other players with Georgia ties at the Super Bowl LVIII included Robert Beal Jr., a two-time national championship linebacker from Georgia and graduate of Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee; Wanya Morris, an offensive tackle, who was a top 50 recruit in 2019 out of Grayson High School in Gwinnett County; Jordan Mason, a running back, who attended Georgia Tech from 2017 to 2021; and Isaiah Oliver, a cornerback, who played for the Atlanta Falcons from 2018 to 2022.