CJ Gardner-Johnson livid over Madden safety rankings
Jan 14, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (2) celebrates after a 2024 NFC wild card game against the Los Angeles Rams at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports
C.J. Gardner-Johnson was livid over the rankings of the safeties by the EA Sports Madden NFL 25 video game.
EA Sports on Monday released the list of the top 10 safeties, as ranked by their video game. Gardner-Johnson was not included on the list. He seemed to object to Tyrann Mathieu being placed at No. 5, suggesting that Mathieu performed worse than him on the New Orleans Saints last year. Gardner-Johnson also declared that Kevin Byard III didn’t live up to the hype last year. Ultimately, Gardner-Johnson declared that he has “way more ball production” than the other safeties on the list.
Got replaced by #5 (see where they at), #7 couldn’t live up to the hype (last year was evidence)! The rest , I got way more ball production sooooooo WHEN MADDEN DROPPING!? https://t.co/336Q4Ywn1z
— C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) July 29, 2024
Gardner-Johnson is so upset that he threatend to “boycott” the video game.
I’ll boycott madden at this point!!! https://t.co/336Q4Ywn1z
— C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) July 29, 2024
Gardner-Johnson only played in 3 games last season for the Lions due to a torn pectoral muscle. He developed a reputation for being a good playmaker over his first three seasons in the league, which came from 2019-2021 with the Saints. Gardner-Johnson then had a career-high 6 interceptions and 67 tackles in 2022 with the Eagles.
Gardner-Johnson signed back with the Eagles in March and is looking forward to proving Madden wrong.