00:00So this Jaden Daniels story, which is the number one trending story on ESPN.com.
00:06To me, there are two things in summarizing this story.
00:11Number one is the cease and desist letter itself.
00:16The letter from the attorney representing Jaden Daniels to LSU about ceasing on the continuation of using Jaden's name, image,
00:28and likeness for the benefit of the university, the university's athletic department, the university's football program.
00:35And then the second part are the quotes that Mark Schleba got from a Daniels spokesperson, not Daniels himself.
00:44Mark was very clear that he did not talk to Jaden Daniels himself.
00:49But those are the two things I think to focus on.
00:52Maybe there are others as well, and I'll let you guys bring up some of that at 301-230-0980.
00:59The cease and desist letter, just so everybody understands, is out there to be read.
01:05I won't read the whole thing, but it is sent to LSU football.
01:09Attention, Verge Osbury, that's the LSU athletic director.
01:16And it's regarding a demand to immediately cease and desist use of likeness.
01:23And it reads, Mr. Osbury, our firm represents Mr. Jaden Daniels in connection with matters relating to the commercial and
01:32promotional use of his name, image, likeness, voice, signature, photograph, biographical information, personal attributes, and other indicia of identity and
01:47publicity rights.
01:48We have been informed that the Louisiana State University, including its athletics departments, coaches, affiliated personnel, vendors, licensees, and or
02:00other persons or entities acting at LSU's direction or for its benefit continues to use Mr. Daniels' NIL, notwithstanding the
02:10expiration of the contractual period during which LSU was authorized to do so.
02:16And then they go on to say that that period was 180 days post-termination, post-expiration of the NIL
02:25deal that Daniels signed when he left Arizona State to go play for LSU in 2022 and 2023.
02:35There's a lot of legalese the rest of the way, but that's essentially the gist of it, and there is
02:41no mention of jersey number of we're very upset about and we don't want anybody to wear Jaden's number five
02:51jersey at LSU.
02:53For that, and that's the second part of this, you've got to go to the Mark Schleybaugh story, and we
02:58just had Mark on the show and he went through the whole thing, but there were a lot of quotes
03:04he got from a Daniels spokesperson.
03:07But Mark's story essentially says that an attorney representing Jaden Daniels informed LSU through this cease and desist letter that
03:18it can no longer use his name, image, and likeness.
03:20And Mark says at the center of the dispute, according to a statement from a Daniels spokesperson to ESPN, is
03:29that the Tigers are allowing sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett to wear the number five jersey that Daniels wore when he
03:38became LSU's third Heisman Trophy winner in 2023.
03:44As Mark explained, apparently it was a recruiting promise to DJ Pickett, the number two corner in his class, he
03:55wanted number five as a condition to come to LSU, and they promised it to him via their NIL contract
04:03with him.
04:04Now Brian Kelly apparently got him to wear a different number last year, but they've got a new coach in
04:10Lane Kiffin, and Lane Kiffin is allowing DJ Pickett to wear number five this year.
04:15And Mark's story essentially says that the real reason for this cease and desist letter is that they are allowing
04:25DJ Pickett to wear number five, while Joe Burrow's number nine has not been given to anybody else.
04:33What we don't know is if another recruit desired, asked for contractually in their NIL deal with LSU to have
04:42the ability to wear the number nine jersey.
04:44We don't know if that's true or not, but Mark did indicate that Joe Burrow would like it to continue
04:50to be protected.
04:52And my sense of it is, real quickly, I'll just interject one thing before I get to the quotes in
04:58Mark's story, is that if DJ Pickett wasn't such a great player that LSU wanted, and part of his NIL
05:07demand was to wear number five, that Jaden's number five would still be protected.
05:12That's my guess. I can't guarantee that. But more likely than not, it's come about because there was a player,
05:20a great player, that LSU wanted badly, that wanted to wear number five, or he was going to go somewhere
05:27else.
05:27Now, the quotes in Schleba's story. To be honest with you, this is the part where, okay, we can have,
05:34I think, a strong opinion.
05:35It's hard to have a strong opinion overall in the cease and desist letter without knowing what the contract, what
05:41his NIL contract says.
05:43But here's the first quote from a Daniels spokesperson.
05:48Quote, the Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU's decision to give Jaden's number to another
06:00player.
06:00Jaden and his family have had every reason to believe that his number would remain a meaningful part of his
06:07LSU legacy and would be honored and protected in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the university.
06:16Jaden made it clear that he did not want his number given to another player, and he believed his wishes
06:22would be respected.
06:23His Heisman Trophy winning season and everything he accomplished on and off the field cemented his place in LSU history.
06:33To see his number given to another player is incredibly disappointing and feels like a failure to honor the significance
06:40of what Jaden accomplished at LSU.
06:45Closed quote.
06:47So, again, two kind of things to focus on.
06:52The cease and desist letter, what he and his attorney representing Jaden Daniels is asking LSU to do, and then
07:00the quotes from the spokesperson, which really gives you a sense of why the cease and desist letter was sent.
07:07He's very upset.
07:09He is more than just upset.
07:12He is, or the family, because the quote is the Daniels family, is deeply disappointed and profoundly, they feel profoundly
07:21disrespected.
07:23Now, as it relates to the cease and desist letter, even if it was sent because Jaden and his family
07:31are upset about the number and it seems like that is the case, I can't tell you that they don't
07:37have a case.
07:37I don't have the NIL contract in front of me, and Mark didn't have, Mark Schlebaugh didn't have the NIL
07:46contract in front of him.
07:48He did not have access to that.
07:49To me, it seems really stupid that a school would give up its rights to use the experience a player
07:57had at their university playing a sport as a recruiting and as a promotional tool.
08:06But maybe they did give up those rights per that NIL deal.
08:10I have no idea.
08:11Maybe it's a legitimate claim, a legitimate legal right that Jaden has to protect his name, image, and likeness from
08:22his time at LSU.
08:23But doesn't it seem absurd that an NIL contract would give up those rights, like with a 180-day period
08:34where they could use it, but after that they can't?
08:36I mean, I'm sure they have some sense of, man, if a player is that great and has a great
08:43experience, he's going to want to continue to promote the university and be a part of it.
08:46But that doesn't always happen, and in today's day and age, you have to be aware that these players are
08:53going for everything.
08:54They have.
08:55But it seems like just absurdly stupid for a university, which, by the way, gives the player this massive platform.
09:09Massive platform and a sport that hands out a Heisman Trophy.
09:14Of course, Jaden Daniels, he was amazing.
09:17I said it with Mark, and I've said it to you guys a million times because not all of you
09:21watched LSU in 22 and 23.
09:24But they had one of the worst defenses the SEC has ever seen in 2023.
09:30Wasn't great in 2022 either.
09:32If the defense had been just bad instead of all-time bad, they probably would have won the national championship.
09:39He was that good in 23 in particular.
09:42He was pretty good in 22 also.
09:44But he was such an absolute show, and they were so unstoppable offensively with him at quarterback.
09:53If they could have gotten a few stops a game, they probably would have been in the playoff and may
09:58have won the national championship.
10:00Look, Joe Burrow's team defensively was better.
10:04Wasn't the best defense, but it was better.
10:06Joe Burrow had the single greatest season any college quarterback has ever had.
10:12Touchdown-wise, yards-wise, and they didn't lose a game, and they won the national championship.
10:17There is a difference with the overall team performance with Joe Burrow and with Jaden Daniels.
10:22I personally wouldn't say that Joe Burrow was a better college quarterback than Jaden Daniels was.
10:27I don't think LSU would have had a chance to be as good as they were without Jaden at quarterback.
10:34He was that good.
10:35But it really seems like so dumb.
10:39I mean, think about it.
10:41For those of you who have taken your kids on college visits, when they put on the first video in
10:47the first big room that you go into,
10:49there's always a big thing about sports if you're at a sports school, and they use, you know, video and
10:57highlights of their best players.
11:01They can't use that?
11:03They can't talk about Jaden Daniels and use him as an example of, if you come here, we've had two
11:10Heisman Trophy winners at quarterback?
11:12It just doesn't seem intuitive to me, but I don't know what the contract says.
11:19So they might have an absolute legal claim, even if it's backed by this emotion over the jersey number.
11:26Now, as it relates to these quotes from the Jaden family spokesperson, or the spokesperson representing Jaden Daniels,
11:38you know, the family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected.
11:46I just think that that really feels first blush like an unforced error.
11:53They could have just had the cease and desist letter and not provided the backdrop for this,
12:00because the backdrop gives off, especially it coming from the family.
12:07And, of course, we all know that the mother is involved, not only as a mother, but as an agent
12:13as well.
12:14I mean, she was featured more in the Netflix quarterback show when it came to Jaden than even Jaden was.
12:22I'd love to know the minutes breakdown, because I think that she was probably on there as much as he
12:28was.
12:28I'm not criticizing it.
12:30But Jaden's not the most dynamic personality, and he had a brutal season that was injury-marred.
12:36And she actually does have a lot of personality.
12:39And he doesn't have a wife, or he doesn't have a girlfriend, and that was the focus of, you know,
12:44Flacco and Baker Mayfield.
12:48Cam Ward's family was a part of it, too, because he's not married either.
12:52He does have, apparently, a girlfriend, but whatever.
12:56And Jaden might as well, the USC player.
12:58I don't know what that relationship is about.
13:01But to me, these quotes are the part that I'm struggling with.
13:07Because, hey, man, I know it's easier said than done, but don't let emotions get in the way of business.
13:15And they did.
13:17It's emotional.
13:19It's highly sensitive.
13:23It's given by the family, not him.
13:28And it gives off, let's face it, it gives off some RG3 and RG3 family vibes.
13:37And he's been the antithesis, the opposite, of RG3 since he got here.
13:44But the mother's been involved.
13:46She's an agent for him.
13:48I haven't had one issue at this point with anything.
13:52I thought it was, you know, on the Netflix show, certainly as an observation that she was probably as much
14:00a part of his story as he was on the show.
14:03But they could have left a lot on the cutting board, too.
14:06We had the guy on the show that directed that part.
14:09And he said there's always a lot left on the cutting board.
14:12But Jaden had a tough season and the team had a tough season.
14:15And so he wasn't as much of a focus of that show as Baker Mayfield and Joe Flacco were.
14:22But I just think that it is a bit of an unforced error, a bit of a self-inflicted mistake,
14:32to put out a statement to ESPN saying, quote,
14:37the Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by this.
14:46I don't like, I didn't like reading that part.
14:50It just, that one hit me.
14:52You guys know how much I love Jaden Daniels.
14:55And part of me thinks he's not a part of this at all.
14:57I don't know that.
14:58He might be hurt, but it could be those around him that are hurt even more.
15:04Like, I'd like the focus right now to be on eventually number five being retired
15:12and hanging from, you know, the new stadium at RFK.
15:18You know, like, I don't think that we're there yet.
15:23I think there's a good chance we could get there,
15:26but we're not there yet.
15:30That should be the focus.
15:31He's a professional football player right now.
15:34If there is an absolute legal case for them to stop LSU from using his NIL
15:40or they're using it as leverage to get some sort of financial benefit
15:46from their continued use of his NIL, go for it.
15:51I don't know what the deal says, so I can't speak to that.
15:56But the Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected.
16:02Come on, man.
16:03This is business, it sounds like.
16:05Deal with it as if it's business.
16:08Don't let the emotions or the feeling of being disrespected get out there.
16:12When you're a professional quarterback with a big season that you're on the verge of
16:17after a season last year that didn't go well.
16:20A lot of expectations from you.
16:25Seems just like an unforced error at this point for this to become a story right now.
16:30I would certainly say that to anybody handling their PR.
16:36The perception, whether real, fair, or not, is for a lot of people around here,
16:46it gives off a lot of RG3 vibes and family vibes.
16:50And that's not a good vibe.
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