Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner has a real case for being the best cornerback in football. Last season, he blanketed WR1s week after week, and, even in what some labeled a “down” year, he still produced elite coverage metrics. PFF gave him a 91.9 grade since 2022—the highest among all cornerbacks—and he’s forced an NFL-best 46 incompletions in that span.
With production like that, you’d expect universal praise. But Sauce knows how quickly public perception can shift. “When you the underdog, everybody want to see you eat... 'till you really turn out to be nice,” he says. “Rack up them All-Pros, Pro Bowls, Defensive Rookie of the Year. Then it’s like, ‘Ah, he overrated.’” The outside noise doesn’t faze him much, but it’s a reminder that staying at the top takes more than talent. It takes discipline, preparation, and long-term thinking.
That commitment to longevity guides how Sauce invests in himself, especially when it comes to brain health. As the conversation around player safety evolves, he’s paying close attention. He wore the Q-Collar—a lightweight device designed to help protect the brain by reducing internal movement during head impacts—throughout the 2024 season. Now, Sauce is taking it a step further by officially partnering with Q30 Innovations, the maker of the Q-Collar, which is the first and only FDA-cleared sports equipment proven to help protect the brain from repetitive head impacts. As he heads into the 2025 season and beyond, this partnership underscores his dedication not just to peak performance but to long-term well-being.
“I wanted to partner with Q-Collar because I know I play a very physical sport,” he says. “I just wanted to make sure I could get that protective edge when I’m out there on the field.”
“Protecting the brain is so important because it’s bigger than football,” he explains. “After my career, there are things I want to be able to do—and I’ve got to make sure I have great brain health to be able to do those things. Q-Collar just put the cherry on top.”
That mindset also shows up in how he treats his body as a whole. He’s never smoked or drunk, something he points to as an early step in staying sharp. Sauce estimates he spends six figures a year on recovery and maintenance, including investments in high-end equipment like red light therapy beds. “It’s insane,” he says. “But I feel like it’s definitely beneficial—so I can be available week in and week out.” Even his pregame routine reflects that attention to detail: Bible app audio in the morning, gospel on the car ride to the stadium, and a full mental reset before the noise of the locker room kicks in.
But don't get it twisted: He still leaves room for personal touches. When asked to dedicate a song to his upcoming season, he hints at an unreleased track by Ice Spice—someone he’s been seen spending time with off the field. It’s a glimpse into the personal side that fuels Sauce’s drive to protect not just his game, but his whole self.
“Everybody should look into those protective resources,” he says. “We all want to be safe. We all have families. We’ve got to be our best for them.”
Sauce’s conversation with Complex’s Quinn Diaz, lightly edited and condensed for clarity, is below.
Why did you want to partner with Q-Collar?
I wanted to partner with Q-Collar because I just started doing my research on it, and I know I play a very physical sport. I just wanted to make sure I could get that protective edge when I'm out there on the field.
And why is protecting the brain so important?
Protecting the brain is so important because it’s bigger than football, it’s bigger than sports. It’s all about longevity. After my career, there are things that I want to be able to do, and I’ve got to make sure I have great brain health to be able to do those things.
You wore the Q-Collar last season. Beyond that, how have you made efforts to protect your brain? Do you wish you’d done more in the past to protect your brain?
I don’t think I wish I’d done more things in the past. I think not drinking or smoking ever — those are two things that I feel like have given me a protective edge over my brain before Q-Collar came into it. Q-Collar just put the cherry on top.
There’s been a lot of dialogue about tools like the Q-Collar, the Guardian cap, etc., with some athletes even outright refusing to wear added protection. What do you think about people who decide not to wear anything protective?
I think everybody should give it a try. Everybody should look into those protective resources that are provided for us because we all want to be safe. We all have families, and we’ve got to be able to be our best for them.
How would you recommend young athletes protect themselves against head injury and long-term impacts?
Starting with the Q-Collar. I think the Q-Collar is the perfect resource to start with, and I think it's going to last them their whole career as long as they stay true to it.
I read that your football journey began at the age of six with the East Side Bengals youth team in Detroit, where your coach—I might butcher the name a little bit—Cortez Harris, nicknamed you A1 Sauce Sweet Feet Gardner. How did you get this nickname? How did it get shortened to Sauce? Give people a little bit of backstory they might not know.
Well, first, my football journey probably started around four. I used to play Pop Warner, and when I was six, that’s when I got into what we called PAL. I remember I was supposed to be seven to even play for the East Side Bengals, but I was so good. It really was against the rules. My brother, he was in a relationship with the team mom's daughter, so they pulled some strings for me.
I just used to be so cocky and confident, so young, but feeling like I could do whatever I put my mind to. I just remember I had made a play, and he was just like, “A1 Sauce Sweet Feet Gardner,” he was just calling me that. Then it was before practice — I used to come to the field before practice, like an hour before, and we used to throw the ball, me and him and some other players. I remember I caught the ball with one hand, and he was just like, “Sauce, man.” He kept trying to hint at certain things for it to stick. As I got older, it just got abbreviated more and more, and it was just Sauce. That name has stuck with me all the way until now.
So you’ve been playing football since the age of four. Is there any pregame ritual that you’ve taken into the League, or something you’ve done from being super young that still sticks with you now?
When I was young, I used to always listen to music on game day. I feel like that would get me turned up. Now, there are other things like reading the Bible, you know what I’m saying? Other things that get me focused and get me to lock in so I can go out there on that field and turn up.
So before each game, you read the Bible? You would say that’s your pregame ritual?
The way I wake up, go through my normal routine, I go to the Bible app and I turn the audio on. When I get in the car, I listen to “Never Would Have Made It” [by Marvin Sapp]. I feel like that gets me tapped into what I’m about to do. I know when I get in the locker room, that’s not the type of music that’s going to be playing. It’s going to be a lot of music to turn me up. So I get that gospel in on the way there, and when I get to the stadium, I’m locked in.
When it comes to taking care of your body, how much do you spend to make sure you are healthy throughout the season and offseason?
I spend a lot of time and money on my body. It’s insane. Hundreds of thousands of dollars on my body, and I feel like it’s definitely beneficial to me, so that way I can be available week in and week out.
How much money would you say you spend a month, and what are some of the things you spend money on?
See, you’re going to make my financial advisor want to crash out. It’s subject to change. A few months ago, I woke up after I told him, “Alright, I’m not getting another car for a minute.” I woke up and I was like, “I want a Maybach.” I went and got a Maybach.
Then I used to have a Cullinan, but I got rid of the Cullinan because I’m like, I don’t drive it like that. Shortly after I got the Maybach, I bought a Cullinan again. So it’s like, I don’t know. It’s really subject to change. At minimum, probably $15,000. It really just depends. When I got offseason, I got too much time on my hands, so it’s a lot of stuff for me to spend money on. But when I go to training camp and stuff like that starts, I feel like that’s going to go down a lot.
So we’re locking in around $15K a month?
On personal expenses? Yes.
What about just your body?
I spend about $25K a month on my body when it comes to a chef, recovery resources like acupuncture and needling, massages, things like that. So yeah, six figures a year. About $25K a month.
Going back, we were talking a little bit about cars. Have you tapped into Ja’Marr Chase’s YouTube videos where he’s riding around in Miami, driving cars and stuff like that? Is that something that—
Nah, I don’t really be watching other players’ YouTube channels and stuff like that, let alone receivers. So I haven’t really seen it. I know he got paid, I know Tee got paid, so I know they probably somewhere having a blast right now.
Start, bench, cut: Patrick Surtain, Derek Stingley Jr., Trent McDuffie.
I’ma start Pat. I’ma bench Stingley. And I’ma cut Trent McDuffie. I think that’s credible right there. All three of them some dogs though. You know what I’m saying?
Two days ago you quoted a tweet that had you ranked as the number one CB, and you quoted it and said, “Them fake and forced narratives can stop. Been one of them ones.” What are the fake and enforced narratives that you feel like you hear surrounding your name?
When you come in the league—so to give you the whole story—I went to Cincinnati. Obviously, I was the underdog. So when you the underdog, everybody wants to see you eat, everybody wants to see you succeed, till you get in the league. And it's like, “Alright, yeah he gonna be nice, he gonna be nice,” till you really turn out to be nice.
Rack up them All-Pros, Pro Bowls, Defensive Rookie of the Year. Then it’s like, “Ah, he overrated. He shouldn’t do this.” Because when I first came in the league, all the other fan bases was rocking with me too. But when you solidify yourself as one of them guys, one of the top corners, it’s like those teams want to be like, “Nah, such-and-such is better than him. Such-and-such better than him.”
And it’s like, if you go back to those past tweets before I had success in the league, it’s like they was the same ones on the bandwagon. Sauce Gardner, he gonna be great one day, he gonna be this, he gonna be that—until it really happened. You know what I’m saying? So that’s what I meant by those fake and forced narratives.
You also tweeted, “Out of respect for my dog Josh, I will not be going to see ‘Sinners.’” The people want to know: Have you seen ‘Sinners’?
So this the thing—I wasn’t going to see it. Well, I thought I wasn’t going to see it. I was with Ice and she was like, “Yeah, we should go see it.” So we went to go see it. I liked it, I liked it a lot. You know what I’m saying? I liked it a lot. I can’t lie. I’m not going to say too much more about it. I feel like it’s going to get me in trouble. But it definitely was a good movie. I’m glad we went to see it. I didn’t go see it by myself, so I feel like that should give me some grace.
Do you have a favorite part of the movie?
I do got a favorite part of the movie. I don’t think I should say my favorite part. It’s not crazy. It’s not crazy or nothing like that. I feel like that was the wrong answer to say, because people are going to instantly try to think it’s that one scene, but it’s not that one scene. You know what I’m saying? Good movie though. Definitely a good movie. Not trying to spoil it at all. Good movie.
The debate on rappers vs. NFL chains is a big topic. Who do you think got it right now: NFL players or rappers?
I know there are some NFL players that got it. There are some rappers that got it. I’m not going to sit here and say NFL players, we got it. There are a lot of rappers that I personally rock with, and I know their jewelry really be hitting.
Rappers—top three.
I’m just going to name some rappers that come to mind, and I know that they got some fire jewelry. You got guys like Lil Baby, G Herbo. I’ve seen Polo G, 42 Dugg, Skilla Baby, Babyface Ray. See, I feel like now I’m going down the whole rabbit hole. I might forget somebody and they gonna ask me what’s going on. Who else? Lil Durk.
Any NFL players that you want to shout out for their jewelry?
Me, obviously. I feel like my jewelry always, you know what I’m saying, doing what it’s supposed to do. Jaylen, Jaylen Hurts, Ja'Marr, Justin, DJ Reed—DJ Reed flies under the radar when it comes to jewelry. His jewelry really hits. Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow, too. He got some good jewelry.
You have “empath” in your bio, but you also have it tatted on your stomach. Where did that come from in terms of meaning for you?
Me just being able to relate to other people’s emotions. You know what I’m saying? I feel like I’ve been through a lot and seen a lot, and throughout my life, I feel like I’ve really seen everything there is to see. So I feel like I’m a very relatable person when it comes to a lot of things. I actually got “empath” on my chest, on my stomach, and on my arm—one of my arms somewhere—and in my bio. So I can’t really escape it. I’m about to get my back done. I might get it on my back too. I don’t really know.
And Aaron Rodgers, you had a bond with him on the Jets. Have you been in touch this offseason? Did you both share any encouraging words now that you won’t be playing together this season?
We haven’t been in touch as much. At the beginning of the offseason, we were more in touch. I think once there was really a reality that he was going to go to Pittsburgh, we just felt that we didn’t need to talk no more. I feel like we seen us having to play each other week one. We really just seen the future—I’m joking about that. But no, we haven’t really talked. We play each other week one. I’m sure we going to talk before that, and it’s going to be a good game.
And what can we expect from you this season?
Man, me? Balling. Not just me, but the rest of the team. I’m going to go out there and do what I got to do this year. You know what I’m saying?
If you could dedicate one song to this upcoming season, what would it be?
I don’t think it’s out yet…. I don’t think the song is out yet. The one that I’m going to dedicate to the season—it’s not out yet.
Can you say who it’s by?
It’s by a female artist. I ain’t going to say who it’s by. I feel like if you know, you know.