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Jayden Daniels Snubbed From Major LSU Tribute Following Commanders QB’s Cease-and-Desist Letter
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- Jayden Daniels Snubbed From Major LSU Tribute Following Commanders QB’s Cease-and-Desist Letter
Tiger Stadium kept fans entertained during the middle of the LSU-Clemson clash on Saturday, which was delayed due to bad weather. The screens showed a montage of former LSU players who are currently playing in the NFL. But Jayden Daniels, who is feuding with the program over his jersey number, was notably absent from that video.
TigerBait.com's Preston Guy shared the video on X .
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The video featured Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Jalen Mills, Malik Nabers, and others. But no Daniels, who won the Heisman in his last season with the Tigers.
Daniels, who is now the Washington Commanders' starting quarterback, sent LSU a cease-and-desist letter regarding the use of Daniels' NIL after the program allowed sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett to wear the QB's No. 5 jersey. Nobody wore the number after he left LSU, and he wanted it to stay that way.
"Jayden made it clear that he did not want his number given to another player, and he believed his wishes would be respected," his spokesperson said. "His Heisman Trophy-winning season and everything he accomplished on and off the field cemented his place in LSU history."
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On the other side, new head coach Lane Kiffin says his hands are kind of tied here. He explained that Pickett was promised the number during recruiting, before Kiffin even took the job, and he's choosing to honor that.
"When a kid is promised something to come to a school, he should wear it," Kiffin said. "So at that point, I don't think that's really my decision. We should honor what he was told."
Pickett also wore No. 5 before coming to college, and head coach Brian Kelly had assured him he'd get to wear it. However, he'd held off on that during Pickett's freshman season, after Daniels objected. Kelly told that he'd wanted to confirm with another Heisman winner since No. 9 (Joe Burrow's number) was not something they wanted to give out, that is why he put off the promise to Pickett.
But this year, Pickett isn't relenting, too: he wore it in the opener against Clemson, despite the cease-and-desist letter.
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"I've worn the number my whole life, since I was 4 years old," Pickett said earlier in August. "It's the number I was promised [by LSU]. I wish Jayden the best. Good player, and he did real good here [at LSU]. So that's all."
Since then, Daniels has sort of become a controversial figure at Baton Rouge.
Even before this video dropped, the whole thing was already buzzing online, especially after LSU's own social team skipped No. 5 entirely in their Clemson countdown post, writing "4+" instead. And, when Pickett's name was called when the game began, the stadium cheered loudly.
Whatever's going on behind the scenes, it's clearly still tense, and seeing Daniels left out of this video just adds another layer to it.
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LSU doesn't retire jersey numbers unless they are truly special. So far, only No. 20, belonging to Billy Cannon, has been retired, and players aren't allowed to wear it today. The Tigers have retired four other jerseys, but those numbers can be worn.
Interestingly, Burrow's No.9 has also not been worn by any other player at LSU. The Bengals quarterback said that he was told they won't ever use it again, but nothing's been made official yet.
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