By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU and former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jayden Daniels are crunching the number.
Daniels, the Washington Commanders quarterback who won the Heisman at LSU in the 2023 season, had his attorney inform LSU by letter to athletic director Verge Ausberry on Aug. 5. The cease and desist letter says LSU can no longer use Daniels’ name, image and likeness, because it gave his jersey number 5 to another player, according to an ESPN story on Wednesday night.
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin gave Tigers’ sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett Daniels’ No. 5 jersey as preseason practices began on Aug. 5. Pickett, a five-star signee from Zephyrhills, Florida, in 2025, wore No. 3 as a freshman last year for then-coach Brian Kelly.
Daniels wore No. 5 at LSU in 2022 and ’23 after Kelly signed him as a transfer from Arizona State. Daniels became the Tigers’ third Heisman Trophy winner in history that season, and no one has ever worn the jersey number of the previous two Heisman winners ever again. Those were running back Billy Cannon (No. 20) in 1959 and quarterback Joe Burrow (No. 9) in 2019 when the Tigers won the national championship at 15-0. Cannon’s number was officially retired. Burrow’s was not retired, but no one has been given that number since.
“DJ is in number five,” Kiffin said at his preseason practice opening press conference on Aug. 5. “And that was a situation that was promised to him in recruiting here (by Kelly and/or staff) for him to sign here. And I’ve done a lot of research on that with the family and the representatives and the people. So, really, I didn’t have a decision to make.”
But he still made the decision.
“It was promissed to the kid,” Kiffin said. “It wasn’t done for whatever. I’m not going to get into that. I’m not going to judge something that I wasn’t here.”
But he just did and did again.
“When a kid’s promised something to come to a school, he should wear it,” Kiffin said. “So, I really don’t think that’s my decision. He should be honored with what he was told. So, he’s wearing it.”
Kelly confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that the No. 5 was promised to Pickett during his recruitment, but he said he later decided against giving him the number because Daniels didn’t like the idea.
“I just wasn’t prepared to do it until we got a full commitment from another Heisman Trophy winner,” Kelly told ESPN. “We didn’t want to issue No. 9 (Burrow’s number), so you can’t treat one differently from the other.”
Kelly was fired during the 2025 season, which was his fourth at LSU. The Tigers did not make the playoffs under Kelly as Daniels is LSU’s only Heisman winner to not win a national title. Cannon won the national championship with LSU in 1958 – a year before winning the Heisman.
Daniels led LSU to 10-4 season in 2022 with a SEC Championship Game invite after winning the West with a 6-2 record that included a 32-31 overtime victory over No. 6 Alabama in Tiger Stadium. The Tigers followed that with a 10-3 and 6-2 season in 2023 as Daniels set the FBS record for passer rating at 208 while throwing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The Commanders took Daniels with the No. 2 pick of the 2024 NFL Draft and was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
“The Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU’s decision to give Jayden’s number to another player,” a Daniels’ spokesperson said. “Jayden and his family had every reason to believe that his number would remain a meaningful part of his LSU legacy and would be honored and protected in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the university.”
Ausberry initially declined comment to Tiger Rag on Thursday morning.
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