It's never good to retire numbers, because it's inevitable someone else will want to use it.
That dynamic has sparked a full-blown fracas between Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and LSU, the school at which he won the 2023 Heisman Trophy.
His number, 5, wasn't supposed to be used again — even if it wasn't officially retired. It has been reissued to cornerback DJ Pickett. And Daniels is not happy about that.
Via Mark Schlabach of ESPN, it has escalated to the point that a lawyer representing Daniels has told LSU to stop using his name, image, and likeness.
Daniels's spokesperson provided a statement to ESPN regarding the situation.
"The Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU's decision to give Jayden's number to another player," the statement explains. "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. . . .
"Jayden made it clear that he did not want his number given to another player, and he believed his wishes would be respected. 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."
Last week, new LSU coach Lane Kiffin told reporters that Pickett had received a promise that he could wear No. 5 when he signed with the Tigers in December 2024. (In other words, Kiffin is saying the mess was made before he arrived, so don't blame him.) In 2025, however, Pickett wore No. 3. He's now wearing No. 5.
"DJ is in 5, and that was a situation that was promised to him in recruiting here, for him to sign here," Kiffin said on August 5. "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."
The obvious reason it was done was to get Pickett to come to LSU. And while (shockingly) a promise made during recruiting wasn't honored last season, something happened to get them to finally make good on the commitment to Pickett. At the expense of the commitment made to Daniels.
"I'm not going to judge something [that was done] when I wasn't here," Kiffin said. "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."
In other words, former LSU coach Brian Kelly made the mess by promising No. 5 to Pickett. And while Kelly thereafter managed to finesse Pickett away from No. 5, Kiffin felt compelled to honor Kelly's promise — possibly because Pickett was threatening to transfer and/or to claim that his NIL deal (which may have documented the promise that he could wear No. 5) had been breached.
For Kelly's part, he told ESPN that he "believed" No. 5 had been promised to Pickett during recruiting. Kelly decided not to issue it to Pickett last year, because Daniels objected.
"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."
No. 9 has been set aside for former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who (like Daniels) won the Heisman and who (unlike Daniels) led the team to a national championship.
And while Daniels has no apparent standing to sue LSU to prevent No. 5 from being worn, Daniels seems to be fully within his rights to tell LSU to stop using his name, image, or likeness.
It's a bad look for everyone involved, frankly. LSU blew it by making a commitment to Daniels that it knew or should have known could not be honored in this age of maximum player mobility and leverage. LSU blew it again by saying whatever it needed to say to get Pickett to play for the Tigers, perhaps with no real intention of honoring the promise unless and until Pickett forced the issue.
For Daniels, the fight creates the impression that his current priorities may be a little out of whack. The letter was sent during training camp, when his full focus should have been on preparing to have the kind of season that will prompt the Commanders to eventually retire No. 5 for him.
The entire situation underscores the folly of retiring numbers. Generally, it's a mistake to do it — because eventually someone else is going to want that number. Usually, the player for whom the number was retired goes along with the request, in order to seem magnanimous. And to avoid coming off as petty.
Petty is the best word to describe the whole escapade. Who cares about the number a player wears? Numbers have one very specific function. They allow officials, opponents, teammates, media, and fans to distinguish one player from another. They should not become part of the player's identity.
But they do. And certain players don't feel like themselves if they're not wearing their preferred number. Retiring numbers complicates that process, creating awkward situations when the past conflicts with the present in a way that undermines the immediate future interests of the program.
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