Colts

Colts CB Sauce Gardner Clarifies His Actual Age

June 18, 2026

Colts CB Sauce Gardner‘s birthday is listed as August 31st, 2000, on numerous reputable sites such as ESPN, Pro Football Reference, The Athletic, etc, making him 25-years-old according to that date.

Speaking on the last day of Colts’ minicamp, Gardner cleared the air on when his birthday is, saying it’s actually August 31st, 2001 not 2000, making him 24 instead of 25.

“I’m 24!” Gardner said, via James Boyd of The Athletic. “It’s crazy that I’m even being asked this.”

Gardner’s age is even incorrect in EA Sports’ Madden NFL game, which he wasn’t aware of until recently. The star corner said he’s always marked his birthday as 2001 for all the paperwork he’s filed in his life, so he’s not sure where the confusion came from.

“It’s wrong in Madden, too? That’s crazy because I never checked. Because when it comes to the paperwork and everything I’ve signed, it all says ’01. So, I don’t know where or how it got messed up unless people just get it straight from Google.”

Although his age isn’t listed in his bio from his days at Cincinnati, and the school didn’t respond to The Athletic’s inquiries, Gardner said his alma mater had known the correct age the whole time, according to Boyd.

Gardner also mentioned his age has never been a mystery for the teams he’s played for, per Boyd, and he understands it could be a touchy subject because of how corners typically age compared to other positions.

Gardner, 24, was a three-year starter at Cincinnati. He was a consensus All-American and AAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2021. The Jets used the No. 4 overall pick on him in the 2022 draft.

He signed a four-year, $33,450,799 contract that includes a $21,507,854 signing bonus. There was also a fifth-year option for the team to pick up in 2025.

New York re-signed him to a record four-year, $120.4 million extension in July. He was then traded to the Colts just a few months later for two first-round picks and WR Adonai Mitchell.

In 2025, Gardner appeared in seven games for the Jets and four for the Colts. He recorded 36 total tackles, nine pass deflections and no interceptions.