Sauce Gardner is the NFL star everyone should know. After spending a few seasons at the University of Cincinnati, he went fourth overall to the New York Jets in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Perhaps the reason Gardner became such a household name is because of his rookie season and everything he’s achieved since. The Detroit native picked up Defensive Rookie of the Year, earned a Pro Bowl nod, and is already seen by many as one of the best cornerbacks of his kind.
Even outside of football, he’s into gaming, golf, and plenty of other things that add to his long list of magnetic qualities. Without further ado, here are 12 facts about Sauce Gardner to give you a better look at the player behind the helmet.
1. His real name is Ahmad Gardner
Although the world universally loves him as Sauce, or “A1 Sauce Sweet Feet Gardner” if you’re Coach Curtez Harris, Gardner’s birth name is actually Ahmad Gardner.
2. He attended Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School
Not to be confused with the high school named after MLK Jr. in Atlanta, Gardner spent his last grade school years in Detroit. Even then, he made a point of keeping education first. One of his goals during high school was to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA so he could secure an academic scholarship.
“As much as I used to just have my mind on games and football, that was the reality of it — you gotta get the school part down,” Gardner explained on “The Pivot” podcast. “I know we all know some people that was talented but just couldn’t get right. So, if you can really get that school part down and just lock into that, everything else gon’ take care of itself.”
3. He’s a Virgo
Virgos, rise up! Gardner is a Virgo, born on Aug. 31, 2000. He’s hardly the only big-name athlete under that sign, which makes sense considering how many legends fall under the same zodiac.
4. He’s extremely close to his mom, Alisa Gardner
What are we without the women who raised us? Sauce credits his mother, Alisa Gardner, with everything he’s accomplished. She was the one driving him to practice and handling all the everyday sacrifices that added up, and in return, he retired her early. “Growing up in Detroit, we didn’t really have anything,” Sauce recalled. “But what I did have was a mother who always made the impossible possible.”
5. He likes to rap
There’s a growing number of athletes orbiting rap (see REVOLT’s list of athletes whose style screams rap star energy), and Gardner is a part of that wave. Maybe it's because he plays for the Jets — who aren't far from Hip Hop's mecca — or the time he spent with “Munch (Feelin’ U)” hitmaker Ice Spice, but the NFL star surprisingly has bars. He’s freestyled during livestreams, at team practices, and has even had a few rappers come out and support him.
6. He committed to the University of Cincinnati
Coming out of high school as just a three-star recruit, Gardner committed to the University of Cincinnati. “They were coming the most out of all the schools, three days a week to see me sometimes,” he told The Athletic, noting that he chose the Bearcats over Kentucky and Syracuse. According to him, Cincinnati’s coaches were the only ones who consistently showed up to his games because others thought Detroit was “dangerous or whatever.”
7. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year
In his very first NFL season, Gardner made an immediate impact with the New York Jets. He shut down veteran receivers, picked up Pro Bowl honors, and capped it all off by winning Defensive Rookie of the Year. “I want to thank the Jets organization for taking a chance on me [and] allowing me to be a part of the defense,” Gardner said during his acceptance speech.
8. He’s “addicted” to playing golf
Gardner discovered his love for golf while hitting the course with his Jets teammates. “The second time we [played together], I was still trash, and I’m like, ‘I’m going to try to pick this up,’” he said. Gardner definitely did, and hilariously enough, even got mistaken for Tiger Woods during a game once.
9. He strays away from smoking and alcohol
“I don't need anything to make me feel some type of way,” Gardner told the NFL when asked about drinking and smoking. That’s largely thanks to how his parents raised him. Even after winning AAC Championships, he recalled not celebrating with so much as a “little cigar.”
10. He launched his own “Sauce Sauce” with Buffalo Wild Wings
Gardner teaming up with Buffalo Wild Wings — or any food brand, honestly — was always going to make sense given his nickname. In 2022, they came together for the Sauce Sauce, a “smoky, sweet, and spicy BBQ” flavor. Though their initial collaboration lasted only one season, at least the cornerback understands that “nothing says football like wings covered in your favorite sauce.”
“I have always known that everything is better with sauce, so who better to develop my own flavor than the sauce experts at Buffalo Wild Wings,” he said, according to Inspire Brands.
11. He’s a huge gamer
Gardner has plenty of hobbies, gaming being one of his favorites. He’s into sports classics like Madden and NBA2K (he even got some rounds in with Kevin Durant) and loves first-person shooters, especially Call of Duty. “I usually play Call of Duty: Warzone. I’ve been setting up my game room,” the NFL player told The Athletic. He later added, “I get so serious about competitive games, and it makes no sense. No matter what it is.”
12. Detroit shaped him
Gardner knows you have to be “mentally tough” to grow up where he’s from in Detroit. Though the city he was born and raised in doesn’t look quite the same as when he was younger, it is the place he calls home. “Everyone knows, even the coaches on all levels, they know if they [are] getting someone from Detroit, they’re getting someone that’s mentally tough and physically tough,” he said. “If you [are] from Detroit, you gon’ go through something, and it’s just how you respond to it.”