6 insights from C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s interview on ‘The Pivot Podcast’

It’s been an emotional offseason for C.J. Gardner-Johnson after winning a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles only to be traded to the Houston Texans weeks later. He recently sat down for an interview with ‘The Pivot Podcast’ featuring Ryan Clark and Channing Crowder, and had a super honest discussion about his career, development on and off the field, and how things ended in Philly (twice).

Toward the end of their emotional conversation, CJGJ was asked if given how things have gone, whether he plans to attend the Super Bowl ring ceremony. The safety said that he’s definitely going to Philly — for the event on Friday, July 18 — because there’s no guarantee he gets to celebrate another Super Bowl win, and he’s going to enjoy every minute.

“Yeah, they traded me, but they didn’t do anything personally.

I can celebrate this moment with y’all.”

He pointed out that he went to the wedding of Eagles safeties coach Joe Kasper this offseason, and was dancing with other guys from the organization, so he’s embraced continuing to make memories with the 2024 team.

CJGJ later talked about his biggest pivot in life coming from the first time he was traded to Philadelphia and how he developed an approach to apologizing and forgiving others in order to move past differences. This led to Gardner-Johnson offering a heartfelt apology to his teammates for comments he made this offseason about the Eagles not winning another Super Bowl without him.

“I retract [those comments], and I won’t even say it because I played with those guys, and I know how they would feel, like, ‘Chauncey you trippin’.’

It’s a disrespect to Jalen Carter, A.J. Brown — I can name all those guys on that team. Lane Johnson. Respectfully, because Lane is my bid vet, and Lane would tell me, ‘Hey, Cauncey, I got your back, but when you do too much, I don’t got your back.’ And, that’s one of those moments that’s too much, because it’s taking away from his career. He done it before me.

So, I think apologizing to the guys in Philly, like, I got nothing against them. And if they win six more rings without me, they deserve it because that’s the type of players they are.

CJGJ reiterated that one of the reasons he wants to go to the ring ceremony is to clear the air with anyone who may have issue with his comments, saying he knows how to approach it and will offer up apologies and affirmation it wasn’t against any of his teammates.

On being traded

The safety admitted the call with a heads up that the Eagles were either going to trade or cut him felt out of the blue. He tried to figure out what he had done, but by the next day, he learned of his fate with the Texans. CJGJ said that he tried to call Nick Sirianni, but the head coach didn’t answer. So, he tried Big Dom, but he didn’t answer, either.

“Howie [Roseman] called me, ‘Your contract [is] way too much.’ In my mind, I’m like, ‘Bullshit.’ I’m on an incentive based contract. I played on a million dollars this year. How am I weighing too much?”

CJGJ said he even offered to restructure his contract so that the team would have more money available to sign guys, but Roseman said that wasn’t enough. Ultimately, he told Roseman to do what is best for the organization, but did ask the Eagles GM to at least send him somewhere he can win.

He was happy that he was being sent to Houston, but also felt a way about having to start all over with a group that has a reputation he’s been trying to step away from, and this after he just won a Super Bowl.

Gardner-Johnson said that he was so upset about being traded, using the word “broken” to describe it, that he asked the team not to post a picture of him signing his new contract. The safety said that Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryan understood what CJGJ was going through, and told him to take his time to process everything that was happening.

“I built my home there in Philly. If I knew the contract was going to be a one-year, I would’ve signed a one-year deal. Not a 3-year, $33 million dollar deal, $15 million dollar signing bonus to be shipped out with no problems.”

He went on to say that he was moving his kids to Philly, and he really wanted to make history with the team. CJGJ didn’t want to be traded or move elsewhere, he really wanted to change the narrative and commit to the Eagles. He cited the conversations he was having with the team and coaches as reasons he was extra hurt about the decision.

What really broke him, CJGJ revealed was his six-year old son asking him if the trade meant they can’t wear the color green anymore. Seeing how the move affected his kids was really difficult.

On his first stop in Philly

He recalled during his first stint in Philly a moment in the weight room that got blown out of proportion. Coming from the Saints, they had a way of treating rookies, but when he brought that energy to Philly — namely, reminding Josh Jobe to pick up the weights in the weight room — it was different. Jobe ended up complaining to Darius Slay, who spoke to CJGJ, along with coaches, about how things were done differently with the Eagles.

“First year, it was Ceedy vs the DB coaches and the DBs. I had got traded one week before the season — I don’t know their playbook and they start me [over] guys who were fighting for a safety spot. That’s a slap in the face. That ain’t my decision. That’s where I started getting hated at.”

He went on to say that he was trying to get paid at nickel, not safety, so it’s not like the trade or decision to start was his, but that didn’t stop the other guys in the locker room from being mad about it.

On his role as the villain

CJGJ noted that there’s no bad intentions for his opponent, and that his trash talking is more positive about his team and less negative about the other team. He doesn’t approach the game with hatred, but feels like he’s been painted as the villain — even in games he doesn’t talk trash. Gardner-Johnson admitted that there were times he was a little more vocal, but those were during rivalry games or playoff games, when the moment called for that extra energy.

The Pivot hosts pointed to the back-and-froth between CJGJ and former Bears WR Javon Wims, when Gardner-Johnson pulled Wims mouthpiece out of his mouth. CJGJ explained that it was deeper than that — it was cold, Wims felt like he got hit the wrong way on the sideline, and it went from there. Still, CJGJ pointed out that despite the fight, he kept his arms down and didn’t swing on Wims, claiming there were many moments that escalated in which he took the higher road.

Clark later pointed out that when there is a scuffle, the immediate response is that CJGJ must have done something to provoke it, rather than consider that the offensive player may have been the instigator.

On Super Bowl week

CJGJ said that he didn’t leave his hotel room the entire week leading up to the Super Bowl. He was locked in, especially after making it to the big game two years prior, he was extra motivated to win this time around.

The safety was asked if he adds extra energy when going against future Hall of Famers like Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, but CJGJ explained that it’s actually the opposite, he tones it down. He knows in those big moments, if he gets too high, the whole defense could start to unravel, so throughout the game he made sure to remind guys to stay calm and focused.

On his struggles with identity

“We do a two-minute drill, and Nick [Sirianni] say, ‘Thud tempo,’ — this was I think beginning part of practice when we get our pads. I said, “You sure Nick?’ and he say, ‘Just thud ‘em up’, and I said, ‘Okay.’ The first play, the guard turn out, I shoot the gap. They immediately blow the whistle, cause they know, ‘Nuh uh, uh uh.’”

CJGJ went on to talk about how he and Saquon Barkley would go back-and-forth about who would win reps between the two, knowing that the safety couldn’t really go full-go. Fast forward to the Eagles-Falcons game, and he had a big hit on Bijan Robinson in a play that resembled something he did in practice, and when CJGJ got to the sideline, he let Barkley know that could’ve been him.

Throughout the interview, CJGJ kept bringing up the challenge of balancing his energy and attitude — when he was too boisterous, it was a problem, when he was too calm, they assumed something was wrong. The safety seemed constantly conflicted about what version of himself to portray.

When he was looking for guidance and, seemingly, approval for his growth and maturity from 2022 to 2024, Gardner-Johnson got only surface-level confirmations he was doing the right thing. He was committed to doing the right thing, but felt as though everything he did was wrong.

On Malcolm Jenkins’ impact

CJGJ explained that coming out of his college, he wasn’t fully prepared to be the patriarch of his family, and admitted he even went broke trying to pay for everything for his family.

As he transitioned to the NFL, he didn’t analyze his decisions and went about things the way he thought they were done rather than actually asking the many veterans around him — until he worked with Malcolm Jenkins. The safety explained that Jenkins wasn’t having his immature behavior.

“[Malcolm Jenkins] saw through the bullshit. He was like, ‘Bro, I was just like you couple years ago, coming out of Ohio State, and when I went from corner to safety…’, that’s when I realized that I’m like, wait, you were a corner?

My favorite player, I didn’t know he was a corner. That’s when I knew I had to like really tighten up. First meeting, I couldn’t even sit in the back no more.”

After that, Jenkins continued to help him, and CJGJ started to come in at 6:30am so they could see him taking his workouts seriously, and would ask Jenkins questions about things he needed to work on. Jenkins told CJGJ specifically to always be nice to the trainers and to always speak to coach whenever they cross paths.