BOWMAN, Ga. — The play was viewed by millions around the world, including a tiny town in Elbert County. Mecole Hardman, Jr. said he blacked out when he caught Patrick Mahomes' pass to notch the Kansas City Chiefs' third Super Bowl victory in five years. He made Chiefs fans and the town of Bowman, Georgia, proud.
"When you saw him growing up, he was always going to be the leader on the field," Hardman's former elementary school principal Jon Jarvis said. "He was always going to be the person you looked to to make the big play."
The Chiefs drafted Hardman, once a five-star recruit, out of the University of Georgia in the second round in 2019. He is one of four Georgia Bulldogs to win the Super Bowl three times and one of five Bulldogs to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl. Hardman has now played in four Super Bowls with the Chiefs and has won three of them. He recently had his #4 high school jersey retired.
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"From the time he was 9 years old, he said he was going to play in the NFL," Jarvis said. "We do have some retired jerseys in our trophy case, but they're from 40, 50 years ago. These kids don't know those individuals that played in the NFL. But they know who Mecole Hardman is."
Jarvis grew up with Hardman's father, a few doors down in Bowman. Before Hardman lifted the Lombardi trophies, Jeannie Jourolmon taught him English at Elbert County Comprehensive High School. Now, the school's athletic director and media center specialist, Jourolmon, recalled Hardman's charisma in and out of the classroom.
"He's just full of personality, always smiling, always making time for people," Jourolmon said. "He was that way as a student here. As a teacher, it’s great to see students be successful in what they set their heart that they were going to reach. Any time he does something people are proud of, it’s automatically going to show up on social media and people are going to talk about how proud they are.”
Jourolmon said the multi-sport athlete got involved with a group called "Friends Helping Friends," which was created to help students with disabilities. Hardman has donated thousands of dollars in auctioned gear proceeds to the group. His Chiefs jersey from Super Bowl LIV hangs on a wall at Elbert County High School.
Jourolmon said Hardman always made time, whether it was in college or in the NFL, to come back, walk the halls of the high school and give back to the students who followed in his footsteps.
"Even though he graduated from here in 2016, he's still very much a visible person in town," Jourolmon said. "He doesn't live here anymore, but he's still here. I think he loves Elbert County. I think he’s proud of his hometown of Bowman. You definitely have a lot of Kansas City Chiefs fans in Elbert County that I don’t think you would have had before.”
Hardman made a name for himself in Elbert County and in the NFL. He's shined on the biggest of stages and the smallest. Every step of the way, he had a little help from friends and family in his hometown.
"You gotta work hard in school, have the right attitude, you gotta be that person who does what's right even when people aren't looking," Jarvis said. "He's always been that young man. He just didn’t leave and become an NFL player. He gets back every chance he can and supports the youth of Elbert County.”