C.J. Gardner-Johnson says he has a big change on the way
Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson warms up during training camp at the Detroit Lions Headquarters and Training Facility in Allen Park on Sunday, July 23, 2023. Photo Credit: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
After suffering a torn pectoral muscle during a Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson make an unexpected return to team facilities on Friday. Upon his return he was a bit of a changed man.
Gardner-Johnson shared a post on X to reveal that he’ll no longer be going by the name “C.J. Gardner-Johnson.” Instead, he will henceforth be known as “Ceedy Duce.”
https://twitter.com/CGJXXIII/status/1717976638820860132
Ceedy Duce is not what happens after eating several poppyseed bagels but rather, it’s Gardner-Johnson’s self-described “alter ego.”
“It’s a different person,” he told the Detroit Free Press. “I got an alter ego. I got like two different people living in me, football and life. Life, I’m just chilling. Football, that’s a whole different person. People call me Ceedy on the football field or Ducey. In life, they call me C.J. or Chauncey.”
Duce’s teammates were thrilled to see him for the first time in several weeks.
“He told us he was going to be here this week, but he popped up today on us out of the blue,” cornerback Jerry Jacobs said. “So to have that loudness and that funniness and all that around, it’s a great feeling so I was happy to see him.”
This isn’t the first time Duce has taken a page out of the Chad Johnson and Ron Artest playbook, either. During his first two seasons at Florida, he went by the name “Chauncey Gardner Jr.” Ahead of his junior season, he changed his name to “C.J. Gardner-Johnson” to honor his stepfather, Brian Johnson, who helped raised him.
During the 2020 season, as a member of the New Orleans Saints, Gardner-Johnson also said he would “officially” change his name to Ceedy Duce but that never came to fruition. Until now.
