Why was NFL star CJ Gardner-Johnson banned from Madden community?

NFL player CJ Gardner-Johnson at New Orleans Saints v Seattle Seahawks
NFL player CJ Gardner-Johnson at New Orleans Saints v Seattle Seahawks

NFL player CJ Gardner-Johnson, safety for the New Orleans Saints, is also an avid gamer. The Saints safety has been dabbling in the modding community with regard to Madden 22.

Modding is when a person, people, or a community makes custom modifications to existing hardware or software. In this case, Gardner-Johnson was part of a Madden Modding Community on Discord servers.

When several mods crashed due to unknown issues, an announcement for the online Madden community asked users to be patient with the fixes because they "have their own lives and will get to it when they can."

Appearing as "Ceedy Shiesty" on Discord, Gardner-Johnson took to the comments and expressed his dissatisfaction, sarcastically writing, "[G]reat customer service lol." The NFL safety added, "If [you] can mod Madden, [you] got time on your hand, bro."

Members of the same Discord community responded to "Ceedy Shiesty," aka Gardner-Johnson, urging him to be patient. A modding team member expanded on the announcement that modders have their own lives by stating, "[B]ro I work a 9-5 and play college ball lol."

Gardner-Johnson directly replied, "[Bro, I'm] in the league and got 4 kid [...] excuses."

Shortly thereafter, CJ Gardner-Johnson was banned from the Madden Modding Community Discord server.

CJ Gardner-Johnson is part of New Orleans Saints rebuild on the fly

After star quarterback Drew Brees retired two seasons ago, and longtime head coach Sean Payton left the team after last season, the New Orleans Saints look to be retooling for another playoff run.

Instead of letting veteran players go or trading them, the team has doubled down on Jameis Winston as their starting quarterback and drafted wide receiver Chris Olave to help out a wide receiver room that includes Michael Thomas and free agent acquisition Jarvis Landry.

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The addition of a veteran player like Landry, in particular, indicates that the Saints believe they can make a playoff run in a weaker NFC South division where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shape up as the favorites to win the division.

The Saints beat the Buccaneers twice last season, so they are not afraid of Tom Brady and Tampa Bay.

As long as the team has running back Alvin Kamara (who is awaiting the NFL's decision on whether or not to suspend him for an altercation at last season's Pro Bowl weekend) and their stout defense that features players like CJ Gardner-Johnson, the Saints are in the conversation for a playoff spot in the upcoming season.

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