Jayden Daniels had his feelings hurt by LSU and now he's utilizing a petty legal tactic to get back at his alma mater. The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner's attorney sent a cease and desist letter to the university's athletic director, demanding the school refrain from using his name, image and likeness.
The letter cited Daniels feeling "profoundly disrespected" by the fact that new LSU head coach Lane Kiffen handed star sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett the No. 5 jersey, the same Daniels wore while he played in Baton Rouge. According to reports, LSU and Daniels had a handshake agreement to not let any players have his No. 5 in perpetuity. Clearly Kiffin didn't care and the university didn't try very hard to stop him from doing it anyway.
Let's get something clear, Daniels is well within his rights to tell LSU to stop profiting off his NIL now that he doesn't play for them any longer — especially if any NIL deal didn't include a perpetuity clause permitting the school to sell merch with his name and such on it. That, however, doesn't make this action look any less petty.
Jayden Daniels' beef with LSU invokes Joe Burrow's name unnecessarily
Folks believe Daniels is comparing himself to Joe Burrow in all of this as LSU hasn't handed out the No. 9 to any player since Burrow led the Tigers to the 2019 national championship and earned a Heisman Trophy himself. Officially, the No. 9 isn't retired but it does appear to be the one exception to the school's rule that only numbers retired prior to 2007 are permanently out of circulation.
Jayden Daniels is not Joe Burrow. Sure, he earned a Heisman just like him but Burrow led arguably the best team in college football history to a historic undefeated season. Daniels' Heisman campaign ended in the ReliaQuest Bowl. He needs to grow up and realize that he can be upset about an agreement being broken but also his legacy is not going to preserved like it's on the same level as Burrow's.
Let's also acknowledge the fact that there are other Heisman winners -- arguably more iconic to college football than Burrow -- who did not get their jerseys retired and haven't complained one bit about current players wearing their numbers. Tim Tebow? Not retired at Florida and several QBs like Anthony Richardson recently wore his No. 15. Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray? Not retired at Oklahoma either.
Lane Kiffin broke the agreement, yes, and it was to land a huge recruit in the transfer portal. But Daniels, if he's truly an LSU guy, should've taken his complaint to the athletic director privately, publicly supported the program and he still could've used legal avenues to ensure his moment as the No. 5 for the Tigers remains something he controls, not the school. Ego got in the way here, or an overzealous lawyer, or what have you but the drama could've been easily avoided.
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