Who's the best young cornerback in the NFL? Many would say Sauce Gardner, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year. But not longtime cover man Asante Samuel, who took to Twitter on Tuesday to suggest the Jets' big-market audience is inflating Gardner's value -- only to prompt another NFL great, Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis, to come to Gardner's defense.
"The New York media will take your career to another level," Samuel initially tweeted, sharing the results of an ESPN poll of players, coaches and executives -- a poll that named Gardner the NFL's second-best corner going into 2023. "For the record (Seahawks CB) Tariq (Woolen) had a better rookie season," he continued. "They both played outstanding, but what in the hell do ya'll be watching? Ya'll are highly influenced by the media, not facts."
Woolen, it should be noted, tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions in Seattle. But Gardner, drafted fourth overall in 2022, led the NFL with 20 pass deflections en route to All-Pro honors.
"You have the best media behind you," Samuel tweeted at Gardner. "I challenge you to turn some of those pass breakups to interceptions this year. You will hear from me."
Samuel, of course, has reason to champion interceptions. The former Patriots and Eagles star, who played from 2003-2013, finished his career with 51 picks, which still ranks him just outside the top 30 ballhawks in NFL history. But that doesn't mean Gardner felt the all-timer's critiques were justified.
"(I don't) need you 'challenging' me to do nothing after all this sub-tweeting you've been doing when you could've just hit me privately like all the other OGs," Gardner responded. "You got to relax. Me personally, I've never been the hating type."
Samuel later tried to downplay his initial comments, telling Gardner to "enjoy the journey" and not to "take my tweets the wrong way." By then, however, he'd already drawn the ire of another Jets star in Revis, who joined the Hall of Fame this year in large part due to a combined eight years with New York between 2007-2016.
"Quit being a hater when it comes to rising stars at the cornerback position," Revis tweeted to Samuel. "Be mad at the voters who never considered you 'shutdown.' ... (I) never was inspired to watch (your) film, but something does jog my memory. I do remember we played (the) Falcons and (coach) Rex Ryan made a highlight clip of (you) being double-moved on almost every single route. I recall Rex saying to receivers in our weekly team meetings ... 'If he lines up across from you, double-move him every time.'"
Samuel didn't seem too bothered by the pushback, tweeting later that he and 2011 Hall of Fame inductee Deion Sanders "set the standards" for cornerback play, indicating that the remarks from Gardner and Revis were simply "disrespectful."
