Sauce Gardner celebrated the Jets’ surprising win over the Packers on Sunday by donning a cheesehead, only to have it knocked off by Green Bay’s Allen Lazard.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The surprising New York Jets enjoyed their 27-10 win over the Green Bay Packers so much that they decided to partake in a couple of local traditions on Sunday. They took a Lambeau Leap and celebrated the upset by donning a cheesehead, much to the chagrin of a Packers player.
It was rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner who wore the cheesehead, a gift from an ecstatic Jets fan in the crowd. As he strutted off the field and to the tunnel — the wrong tunnel, as it turned out — Gardner was caught from behind, so to speak, by Allen Lazard. The Packers’ wide receiver knocked his block (of cheese) off, creating a moment that went viral on social media.
«I’m definitely never going to forget this moment,» Gardner said, laughing at his locker. «It’s a tribute to the Jets fans. They put in on my head, the Jets fans. I just had to take it and run with it.»
Lazard took it well, complimenting Gardner on his game, his nickname («Sauce, that’s a cool name») and insisting he wasn’t bothered by the rookie’s gesture.
«It’s just a little competitive spirit,» Lazard said. «Nothing too harmful in that aspect or anything. I’m sure he probably would’ve done the same thing if I was wearing a Jets hat or helmet walking off their field, so that’s just the competitiveness in me. No disrespect to him.»
The corny moment capped another convincing victory for the Jets, who turned a 3-3 halftime score into a one-sided second half.
