One Spitter Walks, One Sits: Franklin Wins His Appeal as Gardner-Johnson's Ban Stands

Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was ejected from Sunday’s game in Las Vegas after spitting toward Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers late in the first half, an incident CBS cameras caught in slow motion and replayed for a national audience. The Bills still won 33-30, but the result has been swallowed by the ejection and Gardner-Johnson’s postgame apology to his own team. When this page was first published on October 19, the league review that would decide on further punishment was still open.

Update, October 21: the league has now ruled twice on this game. Gardner-Johnson was suspended for one game on Monday, and on Wednesday the NFL suspended a second Bill, defensive back Sam Franklin Jr, for one game over a separate spitting incident late in the same game. Franklin denies it and will appeal. The new sections at the end of this article carry both rulings.

Update, October 23: the appeals are decided, and the two cases split. Hearing officer James Thrash, jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFLPA, reduced Franklin’s one-game suspension to a $14,926 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, the league announced Friday via SVP Matt Signora. Franklin plays against the Ravens in Week 8. Gardner-Johnson was not as fortunate: his appeal was upheld on Thursday, so he stays out Week 8 and is eligible to return to the active roster on Nov 2. One spitter walks, one sits. The sections below now carry the final outcomes.

Update, October 29: coach Joe Brady has now commented on the Franklin case directly, questioning the league’s disciplinary process as the Bills returned from their bye week. The new section at the end of this article carries his comments.

What happened in Las Vegas on Sunday?

With 19 seconds left in the first half, Gardner-Johnson spat toward Bowers after a play and was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. Raiders center Tyler Linderbaum got in his face immediately, and the officials took a long time over the decision before announcing the ejection. The sequence hurt Buffalo on the scoreboard as well: a defensive holding penalty on Davison Igbinosun on the same series moved Las Vegas from the Buffalo 33 to the 14, and Matt Gay kicked a 27-yard field goal as the half expired to tie the game 13-13. Buffalo recovered to win 33-30.

What did the CBS broadcast show and say?

The broadcast left little room for doubt. CBS showed slow motion replays of Gardner-Johnson spitting toward Linderbaum and Bowers, and Jim Nantz called it about as disrespectful as it gets. Nantz had an eventful afternoon of his own in the booth: during a ball-security segment in the same broadcast, he hurt his wrist punching a ball out of J.J. Watt’s hands and finished the game holding an ice pack. Rules analyst Gene Steratore said the ejection was the correct call and added, after speaking to the league office, that New York will look at the incident to see if there is anything further. At half-time, Nate Burleson asked what Gardner-Johnson was doing and called the act childish and unprofessional, while Bill Cowher called it selfish.

What did Gardner-Johnson say after the game?

He did not specifically admit spitting when NBC Sports asked him directly, saying the moment was heated, that there was chirping between the teams, and that there was nothing toward Bowers personally. The rest of his answer was an apology. “I’ve got to be a better player, I’ve got to be a better vet,” he said. “I let my emotions get above me, and I hurt my team.” He said he had spoken to coach Joe Brady, apologised to the team, and acknowledged that his gesture is not warranted. “I’ll take my consequence as it is,” he said. “A fine, whatever it may be.”

What did Bills coach Joe Brady say?

Brady was blunt. “The discipline of our football team has to improve,” he said. “And that sure as hell can’t happen. It definitely has to be addressed.” According to Heavy, Brady said a referee told him the review from New York was clear as day, and the replay shown on the stadium’s big screen made the act obvious to everyone in the building. Buffalo’s discipline questions are wider than one player this month: Dre Greenlaw’s one-game suspension for headbutting a helmetless Travon Walker, covered in Greenlaw’s ejection and suspension, is still fresh in the league’s recent casework.

What did Kyle Juszczyk claim about last year?

The story grew a second thread on social media. San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk posted on X: “This is the least surprising thing ever. @CGJXXIII spit on me last year when we beat Chicago.” Gardner-Johnson played for the Chicago Bears in 2025, so the claim points at a 49ers win over Chicago last season. It is an allegation, not a verified fact: no independent evidence for the 2025 claim has been published, and Gardner-Johnson has not responded to it. Juszczyk has his own history with the league’s discipline process, including the fine that was later rescinded in the NFL’s Juszczyk juice box ruling.

What did the league decide about Gardner-Johnson on Monday? (Update, October 21)

The open question this page carried has been answered. On Monday, Oct 19, the NFL suspended Gardner-Johnson for one game without pay for spitting toward Bowers in the second quarter of the same game, citing Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1. He had been assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and disqualified at the time. Referee Shawn Smith told a pool reporter that umpire Tra Blake saw the spit. Gardner-Johnson apologised on Monday, saying there is no excuse for his actions and that he takes full accountability. His suspension begins on Oct 26 and he is eligible to return on Nov 2, after the Ravens game. Coach Joe Brady said on Monday that the team would add no punishment of its own beyond the league’s ruling in Gardner-Johnson’s case. Brady had not commented on the Franklin suspension in the coverage checked on Wednesday. Spitting sits in the same unsportsmanlike category the league has punished hard this month, from Greenlaw’s ban to the two-game suspension handed to official Jeff Seeman in the league’s discipline for its own crew.

What did the NFL announce about Sam Franklin Jr on Wednesday? (Update, October 21)

A second ruling from the same game. The league announced that Franklin, a defensive back and one of Buffalo’s core special teams players, is suspended one game without pay for spitting at an opponent during Sunday’s game in Las Vegas. The announcement placed the incident with 1:32 remaining, after a successful Raiders extra point, and cited the same rule used in the Gardner-Johnson case, Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, covering any act contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship. The league did not name the opponent in the announcement as reported, and no flag or ejection followed at the time. Franklin played on.

That timing is what makes this ruling different from the one Buffalo already knew about. Gardner-Johnson’s incident was seen by an umpire, replayed on CBS and punished on the field before half-time. Franklin’s surfaced only through the league’s review of the game, two days after the Gardner-Johnson ruling.

What has Franklin said? (Update, October 21)

At first, the denial came through reporters: ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that Franklin denies the allegation and will appeal, and Bills reporter Sal Capaccio reported the same denial in stronger terms, saying Franklin vehemently denies it ever happened. Hours after the announcement, Franklin spoke for himself. TSN reports he posted a slow-motion replay of the extra point in question to his Instagram stories, with a caption that reads: “Not a dirty play what so ever! Will always defend myself though. Still won’t spit on anyone.” The clip cuts off before the play ends, and a hashtag at the bottom hints he may have been checked in the groin during the play.

Any appeal will be heard by one of the four officers jointly appointed and paid by the NFL and the players’ union: Derrick Brooks, Jordy Nelson, Ron Rivera or James Thrash. The balance matters here. The league has announced a finding. The player says it did not happen, and has now said so in public himself. Neither the league’s supporting footage nor Franklin’s full case had been published in the coverage checked on Wednesday, so this page reports both positions and waits for the appeal.

Who covers Franklin’s snaps if the appeal fails? (Update, October 21)

Franklin’s value to Buffalo is mostly on special teams, where TSN reports he has played more than three quarters of the snaps this season, with six tackles in six games. He is a seven-year veteran in his second season with the Bills, after five seasons in Carolina, where he was a team captain in 2024. No replacement for his special teams role had been named in the coverage checked, and the bye week gives Buffalo time the schedule rarely offers in these cases. Buffalo’s wider October already includes a historic two-way game from Travis Hunter on the other side of the ball, but the Ravens week is now a discipline story before it is a football one.

What happens next? (Update, October 23)

The appeal split the cases, and the story is now resolved in both directions. Franklin pays his $14,926 fine and plays against the Ravens on Nov 1, so Buffalo needs no special teams replacement for him. Gardner-Johnson misses the Ravens game and is eligible to return to the active roster on Nov 2. The remaining threads are whether the Bills comment on the split outcomes and how the secondary holds up on Sunday, with the Week 8 injury picture already busy across the league.

What did Brady say on Wednesday? (Update, October 29)

He questioned the process, not the outcome. With the Bills back from their bye week and the Ravens game days away, coach Joe Brady used his Wednesday press conference to take aim at how the league handled the Franklin case, AP reports. “An accusation on a player without evidence, and being hearsay, I think it sets a bad precedent,” Brady said. “It’s unfortunate that his name gets thrown out there. It’s unfortunate that he has to kind of go about that as if he’s a dirty football player. I think it’s an opportunity, everybody needs to check their systems.”

Brady was careful to keep the two cases separate. Gardner-Johnson, whose spitting was clearly shown on replays, drew a different verdict from the coach: “That’s inexcusable. That’s not what we’re about, right? He’s suspended for it, and that’s part of it.” Franklin, who has always denied the allegation, said he was relieved. “I’m just here to play football. I know I’m a clean player. My teammates know that and that’s all I have to say about it. The NFL did what they did. We won the appeal.”

The comments close the last open thread from the October 23 update, which noted the Bills had not yet commented on the split outcomes. What remains is the football: Franklin plays against the Ravens on Sunday, Gardner-Johnson is eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, and the secondary’s depth is the question that actually decides the game.

Update, November 3: Bills release Gardner-Johnson instead of bringing him back

The return this article was tracking did not happen. Gardner-Johnson was eligible to return to the active roster on November 2 after serving his one-game suspension, but on Tuesday the Bills released him instead, Reuters reports. He had started Buffalo’s first six games after joining in the offseason, and his brief tenure ended less than three weeks after he was ejected from the Week 6 win over Las Vegas for spitting in the direction of Brock Bowers. The suspension was served during Buffalo’s Week 8 win over Baltimore, and his appeal had been denied.

The reason, as reported, is not the spitting itself. NFL Network reported Tuesday that the Bills’ decision was driven more by inconsistency in Gardner-Johnson’s play than by the incident, Reuters reports, and NBC Sports, citing NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe, puts the team’s view more colourfully: there were too many “what the hell is he doing?” plays. Damar Hamlin replaced Gardner-Johnson in the starting lineup against Baltimore and is positioned for an expanded role alongside Cole Bishop, Reuters adds, with Hamlin recording five tackles and breaking up a pass against the Ravens. The numbers behind the release are modest rather than disastrous: 26 tackles, two passes defensed and one interception in six games. The pattern behind it is longer: since leaving New Orleans after the 2021 season, Gardner-Johnson has been with Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Chicago and Buffalo, Reuters notes, and he did not play a game for the Ravens. Buffalo is the latest short stay, and the next news will be whether another team decides his play is worth the history.