Nobody would argue that the NFL’s offseason is boring, but certain periods undoubtedly present challenges. This is why New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner is golden.
The man the kids call Sauce provides some of the best social media nuggets in the offseason, and we’re here for it. His latest fills us in on how arguably the best cover corner in the league unknowingly prepared a former teammate for his new squad.
On Friday, while re-sharing Reed’s free-agent signing video, Gardner told his X followers that he taught former teammate D.J. Reed the “Blade Dance.” Since Reed signed a 3-year, $48 million deal with the Detroit Lions, Sauce unknowingly prepared his former teammate for Motown.
Gardner, 24, is preparing for his fourth professional football season. He’s also doing so after his worst campaign out of his first three. Remember, however, that a bad season for Gardner is still an extremely productive year for the average cornerback.
Not only is this offseason strange for Gardner in that vein, but it’s also unique in that he won’t have Reed at his side for the first time with the Jets.
Joe Douglas inked Reed to a 3-year, $33 million contract three years ago (2022), and it turned out to be one of the Jets’ former general manager’s best free-agent pacts. The Kansas State product flew well under the league’s radar for some time—until his strong 2022 and 2023 seasons put him on the map.
Gardner and Reed obviously grew a strong bond with one another. In fact, at training camp and in-season practice, I witnessed them partaking in many instances of togetherness in a big brother-little brother-type mold.
Oftentimes, when the Jets broke out into special teams, Gardner and Reed would be off to the side, working on specific cornerback techniques with coaches. (Considering both players were not on special teams, and neither played in the trenches, the two were afforded the ability to work on their craft during that time.)
Don’t ask me any questions about Gardner’s claims of teaching Reed the Blade Dance. I cannot—in good faith—pretend to know much about this particular dance. (Then again, I also pondered whether or not Sauce’s new friend Ice Spice had a connection to the Spice Girls, so, yeah … )
Reed rocked the Blade Dance in the above video Gardner quote-posted. Apparently, Aidan Hutchinson has also featured the dance during games in the past, as it’s a dance that lives close to the city of Detroit’s heart.
The Detroit-inspired dance was created by late hip-hop artist Blade Icewood.
His “Boy Would You (Boss Up)” track in the early 2000s showcased those moves. Thanks to that music video, the Blade Dance has since become engrained in Detroit’s culture.
Hey, Atlanta Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders had M.C. Hammer in the early 1990s. If I’m not mistaken, Primetime even puffed out his pants in a similar fashion. (Then again, these were the early 1990s we’re referencing, so who didn’t don pants that made parachutes blush?)
Why wouldn’t the Detroit Lions’ defensive backs have Blade Icewood? D.J. Reed is just the latest to get in on the fun, and New York Jets cover man Sauce Gardner unknowingly prepared him.
One wonders what newly-acquired cornerback Brandon Stephens will learn.
