C. J. Gardner-Johnson

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.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
Gardner-Johnson in 2019
No. 22 – New Orleans Saints
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1997-12-20) 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
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Total tackles:115
Sacks:1.0
Pass deflections:21
Interceptions:2
Forced fumbles:1
Fumble recoveries:1
Player stats at NFL.com

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
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 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
  1. "C.J. Gardner-Johnson says he's changing his name". Saints Wire. August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  2. Young, Ryan (April 11, 2018). "New position, same swagger for Florida's Chauncey Gardner-Johnson". SEC Country. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  3. Baker, Matt (November 26, 2018). "Florida Gators' Chauncey Gardner-Johnson declares for NFL draft". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  4. "Chauncey Gardner-Johnson Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  5. "Saints trade up in Round 4 to acquire Chauncey Gardner-Johnson". New Orleans Saints. April 27, 2019.
  6. "Saints beat Falcons to clinch third straight NFC South title". www.espn.com. November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  7. "Saints chasing NFC's top seed rally to beat Titans 38-28". www.espn.com. Associated Press. December 22, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  8. Barna, Daniel. "Saints Wide Receiver Michael Thomas Benched After Physical Altercation With Teammates". Complex. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  9. Goldberg, Rob. "Report: Javon Wims Told Bears That Gardner-Johnson Spit on Him Before Punches". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  10. 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.
  11. Patra, Kevin. "Bears WR Javon Wims suspended two games for punching Saints DB". NFL.com. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  12. Triplett, Mike (November 2, 2020). "NFL suspends Wims; Saints DB denies spitting". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  13. Williams, Charean (November 7, 2020). "Chauncey Gardner-Johnson fined $5,128 for tiff with Javon Wims". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  14. 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.
  15. "San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints - November 15th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  16. "New Orleans Saints at Denver Broncos - November 29th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  17. "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
  18. 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.
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