Jets' Sauce Gardner graduates from University of Cincinnati: 'Like game day'

Aug 04, 2023

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There’s another milestone one of the NFL’s fastest-rising stars can check off his list.

Jets cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner returned to the University of Cincinnati on Friday to collect his degree after officially graduating.

Gardner, who the Jets selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2022 draft, went back to his alma mater in the spring to finish his final year of college.

“It kind of feels like game day,” Gardner, 22, said about walking across the stage to raucous applause, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s a box that I feel like was unchecked. My mom always told me to put school first. It’s big for me and I know it’s big for her as well.”

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“Officially a College Graduate. Finally made it,” he added on Twitter.

The cornerback was the university’s highest draft pick of all time, and he immediately showed off that promise in his first year in the NFL.

Gardner won over Jets fans and awards voters alike as he recorded 51 solo tackles and two interceptions after playing in every game — going on to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Gardner, who was already close by in Canton for the Hall of Fame Game between the Jets and the Browns, said that he was inspired by past Bearcats in the NFL who had also gotten their degrees.

“Guys like Desmond Ridder, guys like Travis Kelce,” Gardner said. “That just motivated me. Travis Kelce didn’t have to get his either, you know, Super Bowl champion, All-Pro, Pro Bowler, all of that. That’s motivation.”

The cornerback is part of an improving Jets team that is expected to compete for the playoffs this year with the introduction of Aaron Rodgers.

“I always think I’m the best at everything I do,” Gardner told The Post’s Steve Serby in July. “I’m going into my second year, so I really just can’t say that, because it’s about what you do every week, it’s about what you do every year. So I can’t say which cornerback I think is the best. It’s another year, and it’s another year for all the cornerbacks to prove how good they are.”