I like Jayden Daniels.
He is talented. He was electric at LSU. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2023, became one of only three Heisman winners in school history, and absolutely earned his place among the great players to come through Baton Rouge.
That does not mean LSU owes him ownership of the No. 5 forever. In fact, it’s an absurd suggestion.
Daniels’ representatives sent LSU a cease and desist letter informing athletic director Verge Ausberry that the school can no longer use Daniels’ name, image or likeness. The reason? LSU is allowing sophomore cornerback D.J. Pickett to wear No. 5 this season, the same number Daniels wore during his two years with the Tigers. A spokesperson for Daniels said the family felt “profoundly disrespected” by the decision.
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Come on.
This is where honoring great players starts crossing over into unnecessary ego.
Daniels was phenomenal at LSU. Nobody is taking that away from him. His Heisman Trophy is not disappearing because another kid wears No. 5. The highlights are not being erased. His name is not suddenly being removed from LSU history.
D.J. Pickett wearing No. 5 does not diminish Jayden Daniels.
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It means another LSU player is wearing No. 5.
That is it. Period.
And Pickett is not some random walk on who wandered into the equipment room and grabbed the first jersey he saw. He was a five star recruit, had three interceptions as a freshman, and was promised the opportunity to wear No. 5 when he signed with LSU in December 2024. Current head coach Lane Kiffin inherited that commitment and made the perfectly reasonable decision to honor it.
“When a kid’s promised something to come to a school, he should wear it,” Kiffin said. “So at that point, I don’t think it’s really my decision. We should honor what he was told.”
Correct.
Frankly, there is something fitting about a great player’s number becoming something future players want to earn.
Why not make that the tradition? Michigan has long done it for standout, game-changing WR’s with jersey #1, a tradition started after Anthony Carter.
Instead of declaring that nobody can ever wear No. 5 again because Daniels once wore it, turn No. 5 into one of the meaningful numbers at LSU. The program already has experience with that concept. No. 7 has long carried special significance in Baton Rouge, and LSU continues putting talented players in it. The number becomes part of the program’s history instead of becoming a museum exhibit.
That seems much healthier for college football.
And before we start comparing Daniels’ situation to Joe Burrow, there needs to be some perspective.
Burrow did not simply win the Heisman Trophy.
He quarterbacked LSU to a 15-0 national championship season in 2019, threw 60 touchdown passes, won the Heisman and led what has a legitimate argument as one of the greatest teams in college football history.
That does not mean Daniels’ Heisman matters less. It means Burrow’s resume at LSU was different.
No. 9 has not been reissued since Burrow left, but LSU has not formally retired his jersey either. Daniels’ No. 5 likewise had not been officially retired before Pickett received it.
There is also an important distinction in LSU’s own retirement system that actually strengthens the argument for keeping numbers available.
Billy Cannon’s No. 20 is the only football number LSU has completely removed from circulation. LSU has retired the jerseys of Tommy Casanova, Jerry Stovall, Charles Alexander and, beginning this season, Bert Jones, but those numbers remain available for current players. LSU’s rules established in 2007 specifically allow players to continue wearing numbers associated with retired jerseys at the discretion of the head coach. Cannon’s No. 20 is the exception.
That is actually a pretty good system.
Honor the player. Put his name and number inside Tiger Stadium. Tell his story.
Give him a plaque. Hell, give him a bust or build a damn statue if the accomplishments warrant it. But keep the number alive.
Football rosters are enormous. Numbers are finite. In college football, you can even have the same number appearing on offense and defense because there are only so many numbers available for rosters that routinely exceed 100 players.
At some point, fully removing jersey numbers becomes impractical.
More importantly, it misunderstands what football is.
This is the ultimate team sport.
Quarterbacks do not win Heismans without offensive linemen keeping them upright. Receivers and men in the backfield doing their jobs. Defenses have to get stops. Coaches have to put players in positions to succeed.
Great individuals deserve to be celebrated. But the program is bigger than any individual.
That includes Jayden Daniels.
Instead of asking whether anybody should ever be allowed to wear No. 5 again, the better debate might be this:
Who is the greatest LSU player ever to wear No. 5?
Right now, Daniels has a pretty substantial lead. Great. Let Pickett try to chase it.
Maybe another superstar wears it 15 years from now. Maybe No. 5 eventually becomes one of those LSU numbers where every player who puts it on understands there is a standard attached to it.
That sounds a lot more interesting than hanging another number on the wall and declaring it permanently unavailable.
And sending a legal notice to the school over this makes the whole situation unnecessarily ugly.
Daniels benefited tremendously from LSU. LSU benefited tremendously from Daniels. It was a great partnership. LSU provided the stage where Daniels became a Heisman Trophy winner and developed into the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
That relationship should be celebrated.
Pour back into the program that poured into you.
Come back to Baton Rouge. Talk to young quarterbacks. Support the football program. Let LSU put your name around Tiger Stadium someday.
But threatening to withhold your name, image and likeness because another player is wearing No. 5?
That is hard to defend.
You can be proud of what you accomplished without believing you own the number.
No. 5 was not Jayden Daniels’ number before he arrived at LSU.
It was LSU’s No. 5.
He just happened to wear it extremely well.
Now D.J. Pickett gets his turn.
And if Pickett becomes great wearing it too, that does not hurt Daniels’ legacy.
It adds another chapter to the number.
That is how tradition is supposed to work.
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