There aren’t many players in the NFL who are more outspoken than C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Many things he has said over the years have made headlines. And the defensive back’s (playing for the Saints at the time) on-field altercation with Bears WR Javon Wims in 2020 was one of the strangest you’ll ever see on the gridiron.
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Gardner-Johnson is the type of guy you hate to play against but love to have on your team… Or do you? He is changing teams for the fifth straight year, which might be some sort of record for a player of his caliber.
Despite helping the Philadelphia Eagles win their second championship in 2024 in what was his second stint with the team, he was traded in March. The deal sent the defensive back and a sixth-round pick to the Houston Texans in exchange for guard Kenyon Green and a fifth-rounder.
Both times Gardner-Johnson was in Philly, and the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl. Yet both times, he left right after the season. This year, he was traded despite leading them with six interceptions, the third-most in the league.
On a recent guest spot on The Pivot podcast, hosted by three former NFLers, including Ryan Clark, Gardner-Johnson talked about how he believes he was sent to Houston because of some incidents that took place in practice last year.
“We had a little scrum at practice. Nothing, just offense vs. defense. But who’s the culprit of it? Me, I guess, because we’re competing,” the safety recalled.
“Well, you tell me the period is live. You’re telling us not to compete during a live period, but it’s a live period, and we’re getting ready for a playoff game? Scared of a competitor. Simple as that… You can’t program a dawg,” he added.
Gardner-Johnson also talked about how he and running back Saquon Barkley would get into it at practice, though it never ended in a scuffle or something. It was all in good fun, according to the DB. Just trash talk.
At one point during minicamp, the offense ran an empty set, and Gardner-Johnson knows it’s a draw for QB Jalen Hurts, so he runs right down the middle. And while he didn’t touch him (you can’t touch/hit the QB at practice, which is why they generally wear a different colored jersey, often red), he got very close.
“Head coach Nick [Sirianni] goes empty, and I know what’s coming. The Jalen Hurts QB draw. I run straight down the middle … I didn’t even hit him, but I got [close]. Drill over, defense won, whatever. I got cussed out so bad,” narrated the DB.
Gardner-Johnson jokingly said it was a warning to Barkley as well. “I got close to Jalen to warn Saquon, like, ‘This could happen to you on 4th and 1’,” he added.
While Gardner-Johnson believes incidents like that contributed to his ouster from the City of Brotherly Love, it all sounds like playful banter in the end. Perhaps we will never know the real reason he was traded despite playing great for the Eagles in both 2022 and 2024.
The plus for him, though, is that he at least got a ring out of it.
