Fresher than listed: Sauce says he's 24, not 25
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- Sauce Gardner told reporters during a discussion about his veteran leadership role that he's 24, correcting online profiles on ESPN, Pro Football Focus, and Yahoo Sports that list his birthday as Aug. 31, 2000.
- Gardner told The Athletic his driver's license and all paperwork he's signed confirm a 2001 birthdate, adding that the error may stem from people copying information 'straight from Google.'
- The Colts' website and NFL.com correctly list Gardner's 2001 birthday, and a team spokesman said Indianapolis has had his birthday right in its materials since acquiring him.
- Indianapolis acquired Gardner from the New York Jets in a blockbuster trade, sending two first-round picks and receiver Adonai Mitchell to New York.
- Despite entering his fifth NFL season, the source frames Gardner as 'still as young as other players who are beginning their NFL careers,' citing Chargers first-round pick Akheem Mesidor, who turned 25 in April and hasn't played an NFL snap.
Why it matters: Three major sports databases — ESPN, Pro Football Focus, and Yahoo Sports — have carried an incorrect 2000 birth year for one of the NFL's most prominent cornerbacks, a data integrity issue Gardner himself attributes to a widely-cited Google result that has propagated across outlets that rely on it.
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