SUPER Bowl hero Mecole Hardman has been reunited with his game-winning ball.

Immediately after the Kansas City Chiefs' dramatic 25-22 win against the San Francisco 49ers, Hardman revealed that he had lost track of the ball following his overtime touchdown reception.

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"I don't know! Somebody hit it out my hand! It's gone," Hardman told CBS Sports when asked where the ball had gone.

"I hope I can find it. I hope they know the number."

Thankfully, Hardman and the ball have since been unexpectedly reunited.

During his introduction by Ryan Clark on The Pivot podcast, the host was stunned to see Hardman holding the ball in question.

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"I thought you lost the ball?" he asked.

"You said after the game you didn't have it?"

Hardman explained, "I didn't have it. Literally, we went to our exit meetings, and I'm meeting with coach and OC and whatever, and I'm on my way to my car, and the dude's like, 'Hey, hey! We got the game ball.'

"I'm like, 'What? Where is it?' 'Somebody grabbed it off the field, one of our media guys put it in their bag.'"

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As for Hardman's initial explanation that someone had hit the ball out of his hand, he said, "I didn't lie, just went off of what I thought I knew.

"I had no recollection of what I did after I scored. When I said I blacked out, I really blacked out.

"I thought somebody hit it out of my hand."

But in terms of surprises, this was the trip of the iceberg from Hardman's appearance on the podcast.

Looking back at his brief stint with the New York Jets last season, it was clear there was no love lost between the two parties.

Among his grievances with the team was how he was treated by some of the coaching staff.

"I ain't trying to bash nobody, but y'all treat certain guys that shouldn't be treated like they're treated," Hardman said.

"I just feel like it's not an established coaching staff there. You just got a new coaching staff that came in, and there's no standard there." 

"Everybody do what they want to do."

Hardman also claimed the Jets had no Plan B in place following quarterback Aaron Rodgers' season-ending Achilles injury on their first drive of the season.

"Granted, the defense has more of a stabilized standard with the coaching staff on that side, so you can tell the defense has got a standard," he said. 

"But the offense is just like, 'We'll just figure it out. It's Aaron's show. Let Aaron do what Aaron do.' But then when Aaron goes down, it's like, 'We don't know what to do.' 

"But it's that same coach that was out of a job the previous year, but managed to get a new job."

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Hardman wound up being traded back to the Chiefs in October after racking up just one reception in six games with New York.

He subsequently won his third Super Bowl ring with Kansas City in February.

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