Clint Brakebill Sports

Jayden Daniels was incredible at LSU.

He won the Heisman Trophy. He threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns in 2023, ran for another 1,134 yards and 10 scores and turned himself into the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft. He earned his place in LSU history.

Nobody is trying to take any of that away from him.

But somebody else wearing No. 5?

Jayden, grow up.

That is apparently at the center of one of the stranger college football disputes you will see.

Daniels’ attorney sent LSU a cease-and-desist letter telling the university it can no longer use his name, image and likeness. His representative says the decision stems from LSU allowing sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett to wear No. 5, the same number Daniels wore during his two seasons in Baton Rouge.

Daniels’ family says it feels “profoundly disrespected.”

Over a jersey number.

Come on.

There is one very important detail here: LSU did not retire No. 5.

If LSU wants No. 5 to belong to Jayden Daniels forever, there is a way to do that.

Retire it.

Until then, it is a jersey number that belongs to LSU football.

And there’s another person involved in this story who seems to be getting forgotten: DJ Pickett.

Pickett didn’t show up one morning and decide he wanted to disrespect Jayden Daniels. He wore No. 5 before he ever got to LSU, and according to Lane Kiffin, LSU promised Pickett he could wear the number when he signed with the Tigers in December 2024.

Kiffin wasn’t even the coach when the promise was made. He inherited it.

His position is pretty simple. LSU made a promise to a kid during recruiting, so LSU should honor it.

Exactly.

What are you supposed to tell Pickett now?

Sorry, we know we promised you No. 5 when we were trying to convince you to come play here, but a guy who hasn’t played here in three years doesn’t like it?

That’s ridiculous.

Former LSU coach Brian Kelly apparently knew the number had been promised to Pickett but wouldn’t give it to him because Daniels wasn’t on board. Kelly told ESPN he didn’t believe LSU could protect Joe Burrow’s No. 9 and treat Daniels differently.

And that brings us to Burrow.

Nobody has worn No. 9 at LSU since Burrow left after his 2019 Heisman Trophy and national championship season, even though his number hasn’t officially been retired either.

Fine.

But maybe that’s the problem.

When did honoring former players turn into giving them veto power over jersey numbers?

Burrow was one of the greatest players in college football history. Daniels had one of the greatest seasons an LSU quarterback has ever had.

Celebrate them.

Put their pictures in the stadium. Show the highlights. Bring them back for games. Tell recruits about them. Eventually retire their numbers if they meet LSU’s standard and the university decides that’s the appropriate honor.

But until then, the next kid should be allowed to wear the number.

A jersey number isn’t a deed to a piece of property.

There were great players wearing numbers before Daniels. There will be great players wearing them after him. That’s one of the cool things about college football. A number can have history without belonging to one person forever.

And nothing DJ Pickett does in No. 5 changes a single thing Jayden Daniels accomplished in it.

If Pickett picks off three passes in a game wearing No. 5, Daniels is still the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner.

If Pickett becomes an All-American in No. 5, Daniels still threw 40 touchdown passes and ran for 10 more in his Heisman season.

If another kid wears No. 5 ten years from now, Daniels’ name will still be in the LSU record books.

Legacy doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t disappear because somebody else puts on your old jersey.

Daniels has every right to control the commercial use of his name, image and likeness within the rights afforded to him. ESPN reports his agreement with LSU permitted the school to use his NIL for 180 days after his final college game, and his attorney is now demanding that LSU stop.

That’s business.

But the reason this became a fight in the first place is what I can’t get past.

LSU gave another football player an unretired football number.

That’s it.

Daniels should be proud that No. 5 means something in Baton Rouge because of what he did while wearing it.

Now let somebody else wear it.

Maybe Pickett adds something to the number’s history. Maybe he doesn’t.

Either way, he can’t erase Daniels’ part of it.

Jayden Daniels left his mark on LSU.

Nobody can take away his Heisman.

Nobody can erase what he did in 2023.

And nobody wearing No. 5 changes any of it.

Grow up.

Move on.

Let the next kid make his own memories in it.