Plenty of players have come and gone from the Detroit Lions over the years, and it’s never anything personal. Sometimes, good players just aren’t needed because the team already has their positions pretty well covered, or other time it’s just a situation where a trade was too good to pass up.
It’s always interesting to see what goes on with players once they leave the Lions. Thankfully, we don’t have a situation, yet, where the Lions have let a guy like Saquon Barkley walk only to become one of the best players in his position. We’re looking at you, the New York Giants. But, we have some players who are big parts of their new teams.
One of those former Detroit Lions players is causing a stir already with his new team. Now, it’s camp, and tensions can be high, so we don’t want to assume that this guy is already trouble. But, there was an incident this week that’s getting attention.
Ex-Lions Player Gets Into a Tiff
Former Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson isn’t one to mess with, and he’s perhaps considered someone to tip-toe around. He’s currently with his fourth team in the past five NFL seasons, the Houston Texans.
Gardner-Johnson is a reliable safety with lots of talent, and hopefully things go smoothly for him in Texas. But, it appears he’s already gotten into a bit of a scuffle at training camp.
According to Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, Gardner-Johnson and tight end Cade Stover got into an altercation of sorts that could have turned into a fight during training camp. Gardner-Johnson ran Stover into the ground during a reception during practice, and Stover was not happy about it.
“Stover pushed C.J. Gardner-Johnson and words were exchanged. The two players had to be separated,” he reported on X. Alexander doesn’t say what the guys said, and maybe he didn’t hear it, but it didn’t sound like a nice exchange.
Gardner-Johnson is really one of the top safeties in the NFL, so it’s no wonder that the Texans wanted to snag him from the Eagles. Hopefully all goes well in Houston, except, of course, if he ever goes up against the Lions.
Former Lions Player Comments on His Time in Detroit
Gardner-Johnson has also expressed that he wasn’t happy with how he was treated with the Lions during his season with the team in 2023.
““I got lied to, so it was, whatever,” Gardner-Johnson told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press when asked about his period with the Lions. “I got told, respectfully, I was going to get brought back and didn’t get brought back. And offseason went real for me, signing back here, because I wasn’t really tripping on it. It all worked out.”
If it’s true that the Lions lied to him about bringing him back, then it’s understandable why he would be upset. A promise is a promise. But, he seems to be doing just fine in his NFL career, so hopefully no harm done.
