

Chauncey "C. J." Gardner-Johnson (né Gardner Jr.; born December 20, 1997) is an American professional football safety for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators and was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft. He has also played for the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, winning Super Bowl LIX with the latter.
Name changes
Gardner-Johnson was known as Chauncey Gardner Jr. prior to his junior year at Florida. On December 31, 2017, he announced that he changed his last name to Gardner-Johnson in honor of his stepfather, Brian Johnson. His father Chauncey Gardner Sr. has been a part of his life, but Johnson raised Gardner-Johnson since he was a toddler until he left for college.
In both 2020 and 2023, Gardner-Johnson posted his intention to legally change his name to Ceedy Duce on Instagram. Despite this, he has yet to formally change it. In 2020, he stated "Officially changing my name to Ceedy Duce. No more Chauncey or C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Time to pave a way for my own imagine that I want no more judgement, thoughts on me, because you really don't know me, until you understand me as a person I won't speak unless spoken to." In 2023, he said "Court doucments otw (on the way). It's a different person. 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".
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Trophies ![]()
Milestones
Former Youth Teams ![]()
2016-2018 |
2018-2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |





