ESPN, ‘Madden’ have had Sauce Gardner’s age wrong for years

For some reason in the age of the internet, it’s difficult to find the real age of Indianapolis Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner.

If you check popular websites like ESPN.com, Pro Football Reference, and Wikipedia, they’ll tell you Gardner is 25, born on Aug. 31, 2000. However, according to Gardner himself, that information is incorrect.

“I’m 24,” Gardner told reporters on the final day of Colts minicamp, via The Athletic. “It’s crazy that I’m even being asked this. Yes [I’m sure]. You can ask my mom.”

Perhaps even more surprising is EA Sports’ popular “Madden” video game doesn’t even have Gardner’s correct age (it too has Aug. 31, 2000, as his birthday) — a development that he was surprised to hear.

“It’s wrong in Madden, too? That’s crazy because I never checked,” Gardner stated. “Because when it comes to the paperwork and everything I’ve signed, it all says ’01. So, I don’t know where or how it got messed up unless people just get it straight from Google.”

Gardner’s age has been a hotly debated topic on social media this offseason. Fans have seemed divided over who they actually believe.

The Athletic’s James Boyd reported on Thursday that the company has reached out to several of the websites reporting Gardner’s incorrect age to find out where they got their information from.

“A representative from Sports Reference, which operates Pro Football Reference, said the site reviews a school’s media guide before seeking consensus among reputable sources, including ESPN and Fox Sports,” Boyd wrote.

“The representative also pointed out that even the NFL’s 2025 Record and Fact Book lists Gardner’s birthday as 2000. Despite all the responses we received to our inquiries, we still don’t know exactly where this mix-up started.”