C. J. Gardner-Johnson
 Gardner-Johnson in 2019 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 22 – New Orleans Saints | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Safety | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | December 20, 1997 Cocoa, Florida | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Cocoa (FL) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Florida | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2019 / round: 4 / pick: 105 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||||||||
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Chauncey Gardner-Johnson [1] (born December 20, 1997 as Chauncey Gardner Jr., known in 2017–2020 as Chauncey or C.J. Gardner-Johnson) is an American football safety for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida.
College career
As a true freshman at Florida, Gardner-Johnson appeared in all 13 games, making starts in the final 3 games of the season. During the 2017 Outback Bowl, Gardner-Johnson had 2 tackles and 2 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, he was named the MVP of the Outback bowl. During his sophomore season, Gardner-Johnson started in all 11 games. Before his junior season, Chauncey-Gardner was moved to the nickelback position.[2] On November 26, 2018, Gardner-Johnson announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and declare for the 2019 NFL Draft.[3]
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 10+7⁄8 in (1.80 m) |
210 lb (95 kg) |
30+7⁄8 in (0.78 m) |
9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) |
4.48 s | 4.20 s | 7.03 s | 36.0 in (0.91 m) |
9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) |
17 reps | |||
| All values from NFL Combine[4] | ||||||||||||
2019
Gardner-Johnson was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round (105th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.[5] In a Week 13 game against the Atlanta Falcons on Thanksgiving Day, Gardner-Johnson recorded his first career interception off a pass thrown by Matt Ryan in the 26–18 win.[6] In Week 16 against the Tennessee Titans, Gardner-Johnson recorded 8 tackles and forced a fumble on wide receiver Kalif Raymond which he recovered during the 38–28 win.[7]
2020
On October 11, 2020, Gardner-Johnson was punched by teammate Michael Thomas during practice. This led to Thomas being benched for that week's game.[8] On November 1, 2020 in a 26–23 victory over the Chicago Bears, Gardner-Johnson was sucker-punched by Bears’ wide receiver Javon Wims which led to a scuffle between both teams in the third quarter. Wims ran up to an unsuspecting Gardner-Johnson, who had his back turned and punched him in the helmet. When Gardner-Johnson did not react, Wims punched him again. Earlier broadcast showed Gardner-Johnson ripping off Wims' mouthguard away from Wims. Despite Wims claiming Gardner-Johnson spit on him, no evidence supported this claim. [9] Gardner-Johnson later denied that he spit on Wims.[10] The incident led to Wims being ejected from the game and later suspended for two games by the NFL the next day.[11][12] Gardner-Johnson was also fined $5,128 for his actions with Wims.[13]
In Week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers, Gardner-Johnson recorded his first career sack on quarterback Nick Mullens during the 27–13 win.[14][15]
In Week 12 against the Denver Broncos, Gardner-Johnson intercepted a pass thrown by wide receiver Kendall Hinton during the 31–3 win.[16]
On January 10th, 2021, in the NFC Wildcard game against the Chicago Bears, Gardner-Johnson was involved in a scuffle with another Bears receiver, Anthony Miller. Miller was ejected for the fight while they both received unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
Personal life
Gardner-Johnson was known as Chauncey Gardner Jr. in his first two seasons with Florida.[17] For his junior year, he changed the name on his jersey to Gardner-Johnson in honor of his stepfather, Brian Johnson. Gardner-Johnson's biological father, Chauncey Gardner Sr., has been a part of his life, but Johnson had raised Gardner-Johnson from the time he was a toddler.[18]
References
- ^ "C.J. Gardner-Johnson says he's changing his name". Saints Wire. August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ Young, Ryan (April 11, 2018). "New position, same swagger for Florida's Chauncey Gardner-Johnson". SEC Country. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
- ^ Baker, Matt (November 26, 2018). "Florida Gators' Chauncey Gardner-Johnson declares for NFL draft". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Chauncey Gardner-Johnson Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
- ^ "Saints trade up in Round 4 to acquire Chauncey Gardner-Johnson". New Orleans Saints. April 27, 2019.
- ^ "Saints beat Falcons to clinch third straight NFC South title". www.espn.com. November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- ^ "Saints chasing NFC's top seed rally to beat Titans 38-28". www.espn.com. Associated Press. December 22, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
- ^ Barna, Daniel. "Saints Wide Receiver Michael Thomas Benched After Physical Altercation With Teammates". Complex. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
- ^ Goldberg, Rob. "Report: Javon Wims Told Bears That Gardner-Johnson Spit on Him Before Punches". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ^ Owens, Jason. "Bears' Javon Wims suspended 2 games for punch, C.J. Gardner-Johnson denies he spit on him". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ^ Patra, Kevin. "Bears WR Javon Wims suspended two games for punching Saints DB". NFL.com. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ^ Triplett, Mike (November 2, 2020). "NFL suspends Wims; Saints DB denies spitting". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ^ Williams, Charean (November 7, 2020). "Chauncey Gardner-Johnson fined $5,128 for tiff with Javon Wims". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- ^ Sigler, John (November 19, 2020). "C.J. Gardner-Johnson had the fastest sack in the NFL in Week 10". Saints Wire. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- ^ "San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints - November 15th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- ^ "New Orleans Saints at Denver Broncos - November 29th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ "Gardner MVP as Florida wins Outback Bowl". floridatoday.com. January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
Former Cocoa High star Chauncey Gardner Jr., returned one of his two fourth-quarter interceptions 58 yards for a touchdown
- ^ Abolverdi, Zach (March 13, 2018). "New name, same position for Florida DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson". seccountry.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018 – via Wayback Machine.