Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels, through his attorney, has sent a letter disassociating himself from LSU and instructing the Tigers to no longer use his name, image and likeness to promote the university.
The issue at hand? Perhaps the most touchy political subject on every football team in America. The Tigers gave out his former number.
"The Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU's decision to give Jayden's number to another player," Daniels' spokesperson said in a statement to 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."
After Billy Cannon won LSU's first Heisman in 1959, the school retired his No. 20 in 1960. Joe Burrow's No. 9 and Daniels's No. 5 had not officially been retired, but they were not given out to current players. Until now.
LSU awarded Daniels's No. 5 to sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett. The former 5-star recruit turned in a Freshman All-America season wearing No. 3, but was awarded No. 5 by Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin's explanation strained belief. He said No. 5 was promised to Pickett in recruiting... which makes little sense, because Pickett wore No. 3 last season, and it wasn't as if he had to wait for No. 5 to become available, because no one had worn No. 5 after Daniels.
"DJ is in [No.] 5, and that was a situation that was promised to him in recruiting here, for him to sign here," Kiffin said. "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. It was promised to the kid. It wasn't done for whatever [reason]. I'm not going to get into that.
"I'm not going to judge something [that was done] when I wasn't here. 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."
For his part, Brian Kelly told ESPN he would not give out Daniels's number unless Burrow agreed his No. 9 could be worn by a current Tiger as well. "I just wasn't prepared to do it until we got a full commitment from another Heisman Trophy winner," Kelly said. "We didn't want to issue No. 9, so you can't treat one differently from the other."
Kiffin could have worked a compromise to put Pickett in No. 7, which is a number of distinction for LSU and not worn by a member of the Tigers' 2026 roster. (No. 7, originally worn by quarterback Bert Jones, is set to be retired in November, but LSU's official policy allows current players to wear retired -- or, should we say, "retired" -- numbers. Nos. 4, 21, and 37 are all currently worn despite being "retired", while Burrow's No. 9 is not, despite not being "retired." As I said above, this process is highly small-p political.)
Instead, Pickett will be in No. 5, and Daniels will be in Washington, finding something to do with his Saturdays beside watching LSU.
Jayden made it clear that he did not want his number given to another player, and he believed his wishes would be respected," the statement said. "His Heisman Trophy-winning season and everything he accomplished on and off the field cemented his place in LSU history. To see his number given to another player is incredibly disappointing and feels like a failure to honor the significance of what Jayden accomplished at LSU."