Getty C.J. Gardner-Johnson celebrates during a Detroit Lions game.
Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson may need a new jersey when he returns to the team from a torn pectoral.
The veteran safety took to social media on October 27 to announce a major change, saying he is in the process of legally changing his name.
“Officially changing my name to Ceedy.Duce,” he wrote in an Instagram story, adding “court documents (on the way).”
This is not the first time that the safety has decided to change his name, though in the past he has not always followed through with taking the legal steps to do so.
New Name, Same Game for C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Christian Booher of SI.com reported on Gardner-Johnson’s planned change, noting that it was not clear if the safety was actually planning a legal name change. Ceedy Duce is the name on his Instagram account, one he has used before as a nickname.
As Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire noted, Gardner-Johnson has already changed his name before.
“It’s not the first name change for the Lions defender,” Risdon wrote. “In college at Florida, he was initially known by his birth name, Chauncey Gardner. He added the hyphenation to honor his stepfather and morphed to C.J. Gardner-Johnson.”
Gardner-Johnson may have tried to change his name to Ceedy Duce in the past. Back in 2020, while he was playing for the New Orleans Saints, the safety tried to officially adopt his moniker.
“Former Florida defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson announced he is changing his name to Ceedy Duce,” Saturdays Down South reported. “The New Orleans Saints safety made the announcement this weekend on his Instagram account.”
C.J. Gardner-Johnson Staying Connected With Teammates
While he continues rehab for a torn pectoral muscle that landed him on injured reserve, Gardner-Johnson has been able to stay with teammates and returned to the team facility on Friday. Fellow defensive back Jerry Jacobs said it was important for the veteran safety to be present with his teammates.
“It means a lot,” Jacobs said, via SI.com. “He told us he was gonna be here this week. But, he popped up today almost out the blue. You don’t have that loudness, and you don’t have that funniness around and all that stuff. It’s a great feeling, and was happy to see him.”
Detroit Lions Safety C. J. Gardner-Johnson has legally changed his name to ‘Ceedy Duce’.
Gardner was emotional after suffering the injury, taking to Instagram to share a message with fans and express optimism that he would be able to return.
“This (stuff) makes me tear up, for real,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I don’t want to cry no more. I just want to get to it. You feel me? Look at this, I’m out there playing with one arm. They can’t stop me with this (stuff). When we (talking about) tapped out, I ain’t tapped out yet. I ain’t tap out yet, bro.”
The Lions have endured a number of injuries this season, especially in the secondary. Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley suffered a torn ACL just two snaps into his season debut, the same injury that cut short his 2022 season with the San Francisco 49ers.
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Lions Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson Takes to IG to Announce Big Change