One day after the Florida Gators commit went through a “mock signing” with the Gators on National Signing Day, Gardner was tired of the act.
Required by the UF compliance department to provide his semester grades before he would be accepted, he decided enough was enough. He wanted to do his own thing. Gardner flipped his commitment to Jackson State, with whom the 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive tackle signed legitimate paperwork Thursday afternoon.
“Yeah I signed the papers. They didn’t believe me. I had to hold them up on the phone to show them. They was in shock,” Gardner said of the Jackson State coaching staff, led by head coach Deion Sanders, the former FSU and NFL star and Pro Football Hall of Famer.