Jayden Daniels Sets Off Firestorm at LSU Over Jersey Number

Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has initiated a dispute with LSU over the school allowing cornerback DJ Pickett to wear his old No. 5—the number Daniels wore when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2023.

Last week, an attorney representing Daniels reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to athletic director Verge Ausberry stating that the school no longer had the right to use any aspect of Daniels’s name, image, and likeness (NIL), according to ESPN. The cease-and-desist also asked LSU to preserve communications, presumably as a tacit threat of potential future litigation.

“We have been informed that Louisiana State University … continues to use Mr. Daniels’ NIL notwithstanding the expiration of the contractual period during which LSU was authorized to do so,” read the letter, signed by attorney Adam Kenner. “Specifically, the agreement Mr. Daniels entered into with LSU and/or its Athletics Compliance Office provided LSU with, at most, a limited one-hundred-eighty (180) day post-termination or post-expiration grace period for the continued use of Mr. Daniels’ NIL. That grace period has long expired.”

The letter itself did not specifically mention LSU football giving the number to Pickett. But a rep for Daniels told ESPN they had initiated the dispute because Daniels was upset that LSU was allowing Pickett to wear his old number. Daniels’s camp has also asked for the university to return its copy of his Heisman Trophy.

“The Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU’s decision to give Jayden’s number to another player,” Daniels’s spokesperson told ESPN. “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.”

On Thursday afternoon, Daniels posted his own statement saying he was “locked in on training camp.” He added: “I have a lot of gratitude for my time at LSU and I’m proud of what my teammates and I accomplished there. Obviously there are issues to be worked out between my team and LSU and my hope is that it will get done privately.”

Lane Kiffin, who will make his official debut as LSU head coach in September, said last week that Pickett, a sophomore, was reportedly offered the number when he signed with the Tigers. However, Pickett did not wear the number last season under former head coach Brian Kelly, instead donning No. 3.

“I’m not going to judge something [that was done] when I wasn’t here,” Kiffin said last week. “But when a kid is promised something to come to a school, he should wear it. So at that point, I don’t think that’s really my decision. We should honor what he was told.”

Asked on Thursday about the report of the cease-and-desist letter, Kiffin referred to his previous comments. But he was also asked whether he would consider retiring former quarterback Joe Burrow’s No. 9 (who won a Heisman and a national championship at LSU). No one has worn Burrow’s number at LSU since.

“I’m not going to get into that,” Kiffin said. “There’s a lot to numbers, whether they’re retired, whether they’re not, different versions. I don’t have an answer.”

Pickett also responded to the cease-and-desist letter during a press conference on Thursday. “About the number situation, I wear the number my whole life, since I was four years old,” Pickett told reporters. “It’s the number I was promised. I wish Jayden the best. Good player. He did real good here. So that’s all.”

Meanwhile, the news spurred multiple reactions in and around Tiger Stadium.

LSU assistant to the receivers coach George MacDonald posted a photo on X with Pickett sporting his No. 5 jersey. MacDonald, who posed holding up the “No. 1” sign, wrote the caption “#5” and tagged LSU football, adding a couple of hashtags for good measure.

Also on Thursday, a crew installed a plaque of Daniels on the recognition wall outside the stadium.

Kenner and a representative for LSU did not immediately respond to requests for comment.