Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels sent a cease and desist letter to LSU regarding the university allowing another player to wear his jersey number, number five.
Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 93%
The NPR Politics PodcastAug 28, 2026
Multiple tier-1 sources, including AP and Reuters, report that a representative of Jayden Daniels sent LSU a cease-and-desist letter over the school allowing DJ Pickett to wear No. 5, the number Daniels wore at LSU. The claim matches the passage, and the letter was dated Aug. 5 and reported Aug. 13, which the claim does not contradict.
What was said
… Eric, I woke up this morning, I was like, tomorrow, tomorrow's a new day. Maybe it'll only be an hour. I think you will when I bring in the phone. Oh, God. Oh, okay, I'm gonna go next. Um, the thing that I cannot let go of is a story first reported by ESPN. It has become a meme, but it started out with Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels uh sending a cease and desist letter to LSU, the university that he attended, saying that they need to stop letting another player use his jersey number, number five. You know, he won the Heisman Trophy wearing number five. He fully expects his jersey to be retired someday, and his family has taken a great insult at his number being used by another player. Wow. …
The NPR Politics Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. AP reports that a representative for Daniels told LSU it can no longer use his name, image and likeness, and that the decision stems from the school allowing cornerback D.J. Pickett to wear a No. 5 jersey.[1]
Supports. Reuters reports that ESPN reported Daniels' representatives sent a letter to LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry demanding the school cease and desist after issuing his jersey number to another player.[2]
Supports. NBC News and other outlets repeat the AP account, and ESPN's copy of the letter is cited as the basis for the reporting.[3][4]
Context. Sources date the letter to Aug. 5, 2026, and the reporting to Aug. 13, 2026. The claim does not state a date, so this does not conflict with it.[4][5][6]
Sources
6 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1Daniels sends LSU cease-and-desist letter regarding decision to give No. 5 jersey to current playerapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Jayden Daniels tells LSU to stop using his No. 5reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3NFL star Jayden Daniels sends cease-and-desist letter to college over player wearing his old jerseynbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4Daniels sends cease and desist to LSU after Pickett given No. 5espn.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5Jadyen Daniels tells LSU to halt his NIL use after cornerback gets No. 5upi.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Why Jayden Daniels sent LSU the pettiest cease-and- ...sports.yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy wearing jersey number five.True
- The LSU football player currently wearing number five negotiated to have that number as part of his recruitment to LSU.True
- Kendall Francis filed a formal Title IX complaint against an LSU football player in January 2026.True
- Louisiana State University found a football player responsible for sexual assault and forcible rape through its Title IX process.True
- Louisiana State University reduced a football player's one-year suspension for sexual assault to two years of disciplinary probation without restrictions on appeal.True