Sauce tries to lure Rodgers to Jets by burning hat

We just couldn’t let this stuff go …

It represented one of the defining moments of Sauce Gardner’s rookie season.

And now it’s nothing but ... well, sauce.

Cheese sauce, to be exact, writes Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times.

Last October, the New York Jets cornerback (pictured) donned a Green Bay Packers cheesehead hat as he celebrated his team’s upset win over quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Co. at Lambeau Field.

This week, Gardner and two of his Jets teammates — running back Breece Hall and receiver Garrett Wilson — burned that hat. It was part of an effort to convince Rodgers “to come here so we can win the Super Bowl,” the reigning defensive rookie of the year said in a video that captured the ritual and was posted on his YouTube channel.

“After the fire goes out, I’m gonna collect the cheese sauce,”

Gardner said, referring to the plastic hat that had melted in his fire pit, “and we gonna eat some chips and we gonna dip it in the cheese sauce, that’s how we gonna do it.”

Rodgers is not a free agent. But the four-time league MVP and one-time Super Bowl champion seems to have the upper hand when it comes to deciding his immediate NFL future — which could involve retirement, remaining with the Packers or being traded to a team of his liking.

He reportedly met with members of the Jets organization this week in Los Angeles, causing quite a stir among Jets fans and players.

“Let’s make this happen, man,” Gardner said into the camera, addressing Rodgers.

“I ain’t playing no games no more. I was playing at first. I’m not playing no more. You see it in my face. I need you to lock in. I need you to come here so we can win the Super Bowl. Don’t even play no more. I mean, you’ve been playing a little too much.”

Gardner indicated he had spoken with Rodgers.

“We settled our differences, you know, about the cheesehead and everything like that,” Gardner said. “He had some energy, I had some energy. Our conversation definitely gave me hope that he could be in that green and white next season.”

Trivia question

Where did Gardner play in college and where did he go in draft?

Having fun

The blonds are back. Puerto Rico on Friday broke the Guinness World record for the most hair dyed, with 192 men going blond to support the U.S. territory’s team that is vying to win the World Baseball Classic after finishing twice as runner-up.

The team’s players first dyed their hair blond ahead of the 2017 World Baseball Classic as a joke, unexpectedly unleashing a dyeing craze in Puerto Rico that left pharmacies and beauty supply stores bereft of hair dye.

The tournament is usually held every four years, but the pandemic delayed it by two years, so after six years of no dye jobs and no “Team Rubio!” cheers, many Puerto Ricans were eager to see if the trend would continue.

The players obliged and repeated the tradition this year, and people in the island of overwhelmingly dark hair once again responded.