​LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) celebrates after a touchdown against Florida during game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Daniels is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
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Derick Hingle, Associated Press
In the new Bizarro World of college sports, where everything is upside down, the inmates are running the asylum. The NCAA, once the cruel, stingy dictator, has lost control of the empire and the pendulum has swung the other way, putting “student-athletes” in charge. Let’s check in to see how it’s going.Jayden Daniels, the former LSU quarterback and 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, has written (through his lawyer) a letter to his old beloved alma mater, telling the school to “cease and desist” — specifically, he wants to stop the school from giving his No. 5 jersey to a current LSU player and to stop using his name, image and likeness.The school promised cornerback DJ Pickett that he could wear No. 5, but Daniels and his lawyer think the school owes it to him to retire the number. In essence, they believe Daniels, who played two seasons at LSU and three at Arizona State, owns the number in perpetuity. An aside about retiring numbers: Schools can choose whether to retire a number and, if they choose to do so, it usually means the jersey is retired, not the number, there being only so many jersey numbers to go around for a 120-man roster. It is the prerogative of the school to bestow this honor; it is not the athletes’ place to bestow the honor on himself. This is something LeBron James would do, but no one else.Anyway, it’s a PR nightmare. What was Daniels, or his mother-agent, thinking? Daniels’ request is being widely mocked. Following a 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals, the New York Mets posted a meme stating, “stopped at 4 out of respect for Jayden Daniels.” LSU fans posted a doctored photo showing an LSU practice in which every player was wearing No. 5. StubHub announced that it would “no longer offer tickets in groups of 5.” A NASCAR team posted on X, “Out of respect for Jayden Daniels, (driver) Corey Heim will no longer be running the No. 5 (car number) tonight at Richmond Raceway.”Daniels is being trolled by multiple teams in the MSL, Major League Baseball, minor league baseball, the CFL and the NCAA.This is going to leave a mark.Who knows where this will lead. Is he going to demand that his former Baton Rouge landlord stop leasing his room to other students and make it a shrine? Does he have a reserved parking spot he wants retired? A favorite cafeteria tray or certain table at a restaurant?None of this makes sense. As writer Jason Russell noted in Reason, Daniels is complaining about free marke