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Mark Schlabach, who reported on the Jayden Daniels dispute with LSU, gives details on Daniels' camp and what's happening between the two sides.
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00:00Let's go to the Rude Guest Hotline.
00:01Rude, the most reliable heating and air conditioning products in the DMV.
00:04We've been talking since the start of the show about Jaden Daniels and his dispute with LSU.
00:09The story broke late last night on ESPN.
00:11The reporter, the writer, was Mark Schlebaugh, and he joins us right now on Grant & Danny.
00:16Mark, thank you for a few minutes. How are you?
00:18Good, guys. How are you?
00:20Good. So I guess before we ask a lot of our probing questions,
00:23just give the one-minute elevator pitch on how long this has been going on and what is going on.
00:30Yeah, we got a tip yesterday that there was some sort of a disagreement between Daniels Camp and LSU.
00:38I guess last week, reporters in Baton Rouge at LSU's practice noticed G.J. Pickett wearing No. 5.
00:45He wore No. 3 last year.
00:48I saw Lane Kiffin's comments, and then we got a tip yesterday afternoon
00:51that his mother or his attorney may have sent a cease-and-desist letter to LSU
00:59to tell him to take all of his photos and jerseys and everything out of the building.
01:04So I was able to make some calls and get my hands on the cease-and-desist letter late last
01:08night.
01:10So his mom is also his agent?
01:12You said it may have been her or the lawyer?
01:14You don't know?
01:15No, it was a lawyer.
01:17It was a lawyer in South Florida that had ended up sending the cease-and-desist.
01:22And it was sent to Virgil Osbury, the LSU athletic director, I believe, on August 5th.
01:28So I guess what I'm curious about is how involved do we think he actually is in all of this,
01:33in your reporting, and who is in his camp?
01:36When we hear the Daniels camp, who is that?
01:39Well, I mean, like, as you mentioned, his mother, Regina, is his manager or agent.
01:44There's the attorney in South Florida.
01:46There was another attorney I spoke to in Los Angeles who kind of serves as his PR rep, I believe.
01:53I don't know how much Jaden and Daniels was involved in this decision because I haven't talked to him.
01:57I would be surprised if a cease-and-desist letter was sent on his behalf without his knowledge.
02:04You know, according to the statement the family sent to me last night, the rep sent to me last night,
02:10you know, he made it clear to LSU that he didn't want anybody else wearing the jersey.
02:14And that's at the core of this, right?
02:17I mean, that's what began this, what do you want to call it, dispute, disagreement, etc.
02:21You don't have any legal recourse there about the jersey, so you're sort of pulling every other lever you can.
02:26So there's a statement here in your piece, Mark,
02:29that Daniels' family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU's decision to give Jaden Daniels' number to another
02:36player.
02:36That, to me, is at the core of all of this.
02:39And I just sort of wonder about that process, that part of things, and where that stands.
02:45Yeah, I mean, I talked to Brian Kelly, the former LSU coach who was fired mid-season last year.
02:51He told me, and he believes, that Pickett, DJ Pickett, who was one of the top players in the country,
02:57the number two cornerback in the country, that at some point in his recruitment by LSU,
03:02he was promised he could wear number five when he got to campus.
03:06And I asked Brian why he wasn't allowed to wear it last season when he wore number three.
03:12And he said at the time, Jaden wasn't comfortable with another player wearing his number
03:17and that they had respected Joe Burrow's wish that nobody wear number nine,
03:23which nobody has worn it since Burrow left LSU in 2019.
03:28So he didn't issue it to him.
03:29And he said, you know, the situation changed.
03:31I'm no longer the coach there.
03:32Lane Kiffin is in charge.
03:34And Lane said a promise was made, and we're going to fulfill the promise.
03:39So if the jersey's not retired, but it wasn't in circulation,
03:42we know a lot about that here because the Redskins for a long time didn't retire jerseys,
03:46but you're not supposed to wear seven and nine and 44 and all this stuff.
03:49I guess what I'm interested in is, did they reach out to Daniels to ask permission to give the five
03:56to pick it?
03:57And why would they have done that if they felt like it was okay to eventually have him wear the
04:03number?
04:03And if he's, I guess that was after they'd already promised him five.
04:07Like, take me into that.
04:08Also, did you say Burrow has also asked that his number not be used?
04:13That is what Brian Kelly told me.
04:16And nobody has worn number nine.
04:17And, you know, if you talk to some people at LSU, there's an unwritten rule, quote-unquote,
04:23that if you win a Heisman Trophy, they unofficially retire your jersey and nobody wears it.
04:28Now, the published policy regarding retired jerseys is that since September, excuse me, January 1st, 2007,
04:39they'll retire a player's jersey, but they will not retire the number, and it will go back into circulation.
04:45There's 125 guys on rosters now.
04:48There's only 100 numbers.
04:50You know, the only jersey that won't ever be worn again by an LSU player is number 20, which was
04:55Billy Cannon,
04:56the 1959 Heisman Trophy winner whose jersey was retired decades ago.
05:01It's the same thing in basketball with Pete Maravich, Shaquille O'Neal, and a couple other guys.
05:08So, you know, there's four other jerseys, three other jerseys that have been retired in football,
05:15and the guys are wearing those numbers.
05:17Burt Jones, the former LSU quarterback who played in the NFL, his number seven jersey has been retired in November,
05:22but somebody's going to wear number seven in the future.
05:25So I don't know if Jaden Daniels was promised nobody would wear his jersey at LSU after he won the
05:31Heisman
05:32and feels like that they're breaking that promise, but officially his jersey has not been retired.
05:38And on top of that, you have to wait five years after you leave LSU to even be considered for
05:43a nomination.
05:45And because of the 2007 change, they can still give the number out anyway if it's retired.
05:50Yeah.
05:51So doesn't that just mean they could still retire his jersey in two years?
05:55I mean, what's different between his jersey being retired when it's allowed to be and giving it out now?
06:01I just feel like they felt like they were told nobody would ever wear the number.
06:08Who said it?
06:09I have no idea.
06:11You know, that's the assumption that I have after reporting the story.
06:18ESPN's Mark Schlabaugh with us here on G&D,
06:21breaking down the Jaden Daniels cease and desist against LSU, all about the number five jersey.
06:27So reading the cease and desist letter, I am not an attorney, Mark, but I play one on the radio,
06:31I suppose.
06:32But what's intriguing to me is if there is any legal grounds here, right,
06:37where the thing I was most interested in was the 180-day sort of period after Daniels finished his time
06:46there at LSU.
06:47And it sounds like, if that's to be believed, LSU is in violation of that.
06:51You have any kind of marketing material with him or a video with him or whatever.
06:55It's past that 180 days.
06:57That's interesting to me in terms of maybe a new frontier for NIL.
07:01Just what do you make of that?
07:05Yeah, I'm not an attorney either.
07:08If I believe the attorney's on X, which is pretty dangerous.
07:13That's a great practice.
07:14That's where I get all my best advice.
07:15Yeah, they don't believe he has much of a legal standing.
07:19I do know that in the last couple of years, the 1983 NC State basketball team,
07:25which famously won the national championship under Jim Valvano,
07:30they filed a lawsuit to get damages because NC State and the ACC and the NCAA
07:37continued to use images of them and their name and likeness to promote March Madness,
07:45and they were compensated for it, and the case was thrown out of court.
07:49There have been a couple other challenges in the past, but from what I understand,
07:54again, ex-attorneys and a couple of guys I've talked to, you can't go back and erase history.
08:00So if LSU has images or videos of Jaden Daniels playing at LSU, they can use it.
08:07That's part of the scholarship agreement, and I don't want to say it's an NIL agreement,
08:14but other NIL agreements that these guys were familiar with.
08:16So the 180-day part of this, is that contractual?
08:23Again, I have not read the contract, but based off what his attorney is saying,
08:29reading between the lines there, I think that means that they can't use any new images of him beyond 180
08:34days.
08:34Got you.
08:35At least that's what the attorney told me.
08:38Meaning like commander stuff, NFC championship game.
08:41But when he's in the purple and gold running away from Florida, that's theirs to have.
08:45That would actually make plenty of sense.
08:47That makes sense.
08:48Yeah.
08:49I mean, LSU had not responded to the cease and desist letter as of last night.
08:54I saw a video on X earlier today from a television station in Baton Rouge or New Orleans
09:01that showed video of LSU workers putting up a plaque commemorating Jaden Daniels today.
09:07So I don't know that LSU is going to abide by it.
09:12Wow.
09:13So, I mean, hopefully the thing gets worked out.
09:16I mean, it's rather silly.
09:17I think it's the current state of college athletics in a nutshell.
09:20It's all about money and, you know, individuals rather than teams.
09:25Um, but it would be a shame if a guy like Jaden Daniels never goes back to LSU and isn't
09:31honored
09:32at halftime.
09:32Totally.
09:33What was his relationship like with the team over the last year?
09:39I would be speaking out of turn.
09:41I mean, I assume it was fine.
09:42I don't think anything ever became an issue until DJ Pickett showed up wearing number five.
09:48What's next here?
09:49Uh, like now we're, again, everybody's pulling, I don't say everybody, I don't know what LSU
09:53has done in terms of responses, but, you know, levers are being pulled and, you know, it's
09:57like, it reminds me of a, of a neighbor feuding with another neighbor.
10:00It's like, well, I can't respond because your tree overhangs mine, but I sure as hell can
10:04play big band music until curfew.
10:07You know what I mean?
10:07It just sort of seems like we're arguing what's next here.
10:12Uh, talking to people in DJ Pickett's camp.
10:14He's, he will not, uh, give up number five.
10:18He has no intention of giving up number five.
10:21Um, yeah, he was a freshman all American last year.
10:24He's probably going to be a really high NFL pick at his current trajectory.
10:29Um, you know, everybody in the country wanted him.
10:31I know Miami tried to get him to transfer after this past season.
10:34He's a kid from Florida.
10:35He's got really good size and speed.
10:37Let LSU with interceptions as a freshman.
10:39Um, you know, he has no intention of, of surrendering, surrendering the number.
10:44I think it would probably have to come from Jaden Daniels side.
10:47Look, I think he's, he's taken a, a PR hit.
10:50If you believe the, the people on social media, um, and the reaction, but you know,
10:55he's got to decide whether or not it's, it's worth it to stand his ground.
10:58Yeah.
10:59I was going to ask you in terms of, you know, the folks in Baton Rouge and LSU fan base,
11:03he was such a legend and an icon and just an all timer.
11:07I mean, what has the response in the, what you've seen been like over the sub 24 hours
11:12since this story came out?
11:14Yeah.
11:14I don't get a good, again, talking to people in Daniel's camp, he doesn't have a beef with
11:18Joe Burrow, but I just think that there's this belief that he's being treated differently
11:24than Joe Burrow because nobody's worn number nine.
11:27Joe Burrow won a Heisman trophy and his team went 15 and 0 and they won a national championship.
11:31Yeah.
11:31So I wanted to double click on that because we have had that kind of what about ism a
11:34lot today where people are going, but, but just Heisman trophy winners.
11:38And I'm going, no, there's three guys and two are pretty similar.
11:42They won the national championship and the Heisman trophy.
11:45And I'm not trying to knock Daniels because by the way, his defense was terrible or else
11:49he would have won the national championship too.
11:51He couldn't do a whole lot more, but I do.
11:53Every time I hear someone act like it's the exact same thing.
11:56No, it's not.
11:57I mean, how important is a national title to legacy?
12:00We were just talking about Joe Theisman the other day and we lead with Super Bowls and
12:04hardware.
12:05To me, that is a huge part of that.
12:08No, no, definitely.
12:10I mean, it's the ultimate achievement.
12:11It's the ultimate team achievement.
12:13As somebody pointed out earlier, I mean, the Heisman's pretty much a quarterback award at
12:19this point, uh, for the most part, four out of five times, it's going to be a quarterback
12:23that wins the award, but I'm taking nothing away from him.
12:25He was an unbelievable player at LSU.
12:28If he had any, if he had a mediocre defense, they would have challenged for a national championship.
12:33Unfortunately, their defense was terrible.
12:35Um, but yeah, Burrow, that Burrow team, I covered about four of their games.
12:39That was probably the greatest college football team I've ever seen since Miami in the eighties.
12:44The other thing I wonder, and we're talking to Mark Schleyball, who wrote this story and
12:48did a lot of great reporting on this, uh, Jaden Daniels versus LSU came out last night.
12:54But I do wonder, to my knowledge, there's been no player that was a number two prospect in
13:01America who wanted to wear number nine.
13:04And I just think that the business of college football to keep up now, you kind of make all
13:09kinds of deals with people.
13:10You do a lot of things that you wouldn't have wanted to do.
13:13And I, maybe I'm crazy.
13:16I think they probably would have said to the kid, we'll get you number nine.
13:19And this year, if Lane Kiffin had to hand out number nine to the number two cornerback
13:22in America, or else he transfers, he might've handed out number nine.
13:27Yeah.
13:27And again, look, I don't know that DJ Pickett doesn't have a clause in his contract with LSU
13:32that says, you have to give me number five or you're in breach of my contract.
13:36I'd, I'd reached out to his agent and he wouldn't talk about it because he didn't want to break
13:41the confidentiality agreement with his client.
13:44But, um, yeah, I don't know.
13:46It's, um, it's crazy, man.
13:48I went back and found a story I'd written in 2003, 23 years ago about a linebacker prospect
13:57named Ernie Sims Jr.
13:59out of Tallahassee, Florida.
14:00He was the number one linebacker in the country.
14:01His final three schools were Auburn, Georgia, and Florida state where his father played
14:06and he wanted to wear a number 34.
14:09Bo Jackson wore 34 at Auburn.
14:12Herschel Walker wore 34 at Georgia.
14:14Ron Sellers wore 34 at Florida state.
14:17They were all three retired.
14:18Sellers agreed to let the kid have it because he wanted him to play at Florida state.
14:25I could see where you're going with that.
14:27Mark Slapot with us here on G and D.
14:30Uh, I, I am no Lane Kiffin fan by any stretch of the imagination.
14:33To me, he's, you know, what, uh, John Calipari was a handful of years ago.
14:37He's embracing the system.
14:38This is the system.
14:39Now everybody was mad for college hoops about one and done coach Calipari was like, yep,
14:43I'll do one and done.
14:43You guys can mess around with, uh, all your juniors and seniors.
14:47I'll just get lottery picks and we'll try to go compete.
14:49And then of course, college basketball changed given understands that at this school, especially
14:55you got about seven seconds to start winning, winning big, or they will run your ass out
15:00of town.
15:01So for, for LSU fans who want to honor the history and do this and do that, that's awesome.
15:07They're not going to give him any benefit of the doubt.
15:08If the picket kid transfers and they give up a 65 yard touchdown to Florida.
15:12I mean, so I guess kind of give me your Kiffin perspective here on this.
15:16Cause he doesn't mind being the villain or a foil character for a while, knowing that
15:19this time is probably short.
15:21Nah, I blame Lane Kiffin for a lot of things.
15:23I don't blame him for this one.
15:25I think he's, I think he's in a no win situation.
15:27It's a mess he inherited.
15:29He knows he's got a damn good cornerback.
15:31He needs to keep.
15:32He didn't coach Jaden Daniels.
15:34Um, you know, it's Lane.
15:37I think I saw his press conference in Baton Rouge today and he refused to answer another
15:41question about it.
15:42But, you know, he said, look, promise was made.
15:44And, you know, if you come to this school, we're going to, we're going to abide by those
15:48promises.
15:48And it really wasn't a decision for me to make.
15:51It was promised to him in the past.
15:53I'm not going to talk why he didn't wear it last year.
15:55I don't know why it didn't happen, but I'm not going to talk about things that happened
15:58in the past.
15:59Last one for me.
16:00I mean, what's your best prediction on, on how we have a breakthrough here or what happens
16:06next when, how this ends?
16:12I hopefully Jaden Daniels starts worrying about, um, playing for the commanders.
16:20Succinct.
16:21Yeah.
16:21That's where we're at.
16:22Mark, Mark, thank you.
16:24I just, it's, I don't, it's, it's just, it's what I, when I heard it last night or yesterday
16:30afternoon, I was like, yeah, I want it.
16:33I love it.
16:33It's college football.
16:35It's pettiness and drama and everything else, but it's a Jersey number.
16:39Come on.
16:41Yeah.
16:41I'm both, I'm both sides.
16:43Well, I was going to say that, that, that goes both ways.
16:45It's a Jersey number.
16:46Come on.
16:47And by the way, put that on a t-shirt.
16:48I'm all, I'm all for that.
16:49Thanks, Mark.
16:50We appreciate you.
16:51Appreciate you.
16:51Thanks guys.
16:52Have a good weekend.
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