You would think it would take longer than six months for the euphoria that comes with winning a Super Bowl title to wear off, but in the case of new Houston Texans cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson, the honeymoon period with the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t last nearly as long as you’d think it would.
In his second go-around with the Eagles, C.J. Gardner-Johnson played a vital role in Philadelphia’s second ever Super Bowl title. He started 16 games for an Eagles defense that But just a little over one month after Gardner-Johnson and all of his teammates go their hands on the Lombardi Trophy, the six-year veteran was traded to the Houston Texans for guard Kenyon Green.
Depending on who you ask, you’d likely get a different response as to why the Eagles and Texans ultimately agreed on this deal. But C.J. Gardner-Johnson has a pretty good idea why Philadelphia decided to move on from him.
“Scared of a competitor. Simple as that,”Gardner-Johnson said of the Eagles during a July 15 appearance on The Pivot Podcast. “You can’t program a dawg. Certain dawgs, you can’t say ‘be a dog.’”
Issues With Eagles Added Up Throughout the Year
C.J. Gardner-Johnson went on to detail a pair of incidents which he believes caused a fracture with the team throughout the 2024 season. First, a play against the Washington Commanders in which he was reprimanded on the sideline for getting kicked out, even though according to Gardner-Johnson, he wasn’t anywhere near the play. And then again later in the year when there was, as he referred to it, “a little scrum at practice,” that he was held accountable for.
“We had a little scrum at practice,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Nothing, just offense versus defense, but who’s the culprit of it? Me. I guess, because we’re competing. Well, you tell me the period is live. You’re telling us not to compete during a live period, but it’s a live period, and we’re getting ready for a playoff game?”
There is a little bit of ‘He Said, He Said’ to this whole situation. Only members of the Eagles organization know how much these incidents, to any extent, played a part in why there was apparently no interest on Philadelphia’s side in a 2025 reunion between the two sides. Either way, that would be revisionist history and nothing else.
What matters it that C.J. Gardner-Johnson is a Texan now, and he believes he could be the suddenly found missing piece that brings championship legitimacy to Houston.
Gardner-Johnson Wants To Teach Texans How to Win
Since arriving in the NFL in 2002, the Houston Texans have never made it further than the Divisional Round of the Playoffs, which is exactly where C.J. Stroud led the team last season. But with six years of experience and a career’s worth of big games under his belt, C.J. Gardner-Johnson believes he could help this young group quickly get over the hump.
“I mean, you guys played a lot of good ball here, but I don’t think they understand what it means to win when it matters,” Gardner-Johnson said on June 7, according to Aaron Wilson of KRPC 2 Houston.
“I’m not talking discredit to the team. I’m just saying I’ve been in a lot situations where, from Detroit to New Orleans to Philly, I’ve got to win when it matters and I’ve been in games where I had to step up. For me, championships means more to me than just winning a football game right now because I’m getting older. I’m playing with a lot of younger guys who understand like, yeah, the money’s here, but it’s more on when you can win and get a championship, you know?”
They don’t know yet, but if C.J. Gardner-Johnson has it his way, they’ll know soon enough.
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