​My son recently sent me this tweet from someone named Trey Rowland: “ordered the number 5 at Jimmy John’s and now I have a voicemail from Jayden Daniels’ lawyer.” I responded that I didn’t get the joke. He then told me that Daniels’s lawyer, Adam Kenner, had sent a cease-and-desist letter to LSU, demanding that the school not assign the number 5 (the number Daniels wore while winning the Heisman in his final season at LSU) to sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett. I was intrigued, and decided to investigate. With all due respect to Kenner, this is a legal fumble of epic proportions (I abide by the longstanding rule that requires me to use puns whenever I write about sports).I got a copy of the letter, and it has more holes than the Bengals’ offensive line (see above). Interestingly, the letter does not actually mention the number. It purports to address LSU’s use of Daniels’ “name, image and likeness,” or “NIL.” It may be that LSU is using Daniels’ name or image in some fashion, but all the reporting I’ve seen indicates it is a direct response to the assignment of Daniels’ old number. More: USA TODAY Network 2025 Ohio Super 25 football preseason pollEven though a lawyer wrote the letter, it gets to the point quickly. It states in the second paragraph “[w]e have been informed that LSU…continues to use Mr. Daniels’ NIL notwithstanding the expiration of the contractual period during which LSU was authorized to do so.” So we can presume that Daniels’ theory is that the number 5 is part of Daniels’ NIL. That is a stretch, to put it mildly. A number isn’t NILOne indication of the weakness of Daniels’ argument is that it cites no statutory or case support. The law operates on “precedent,” meaning other cases decided by other courts which support the argument. If there were any such cases, I guarantee that Kenner would have mentioned them in bold letters.There is also a Louisiana NIL statute. It provides no support for Daniels’ position. But while most statutes define important terms, the Louisiana statute doesn’t say what the terms “name,” “image,” or “likeness” mean. The lack of definition may result from the fact that the terms are self-explanatory. But fortunately, Ohio law does provide a definition. According to the Ohio Administrative Code, “‘[n]ame’ means the first name, last name, or nickname of the student-athlete when used in a context that reasonably identifies the student-athlete with particularity. ‘Image’ means a picture of the student-athlete. ‘Likeness’ means a physical, digital, or other depiction or representation of the student-athlete.”More: Nielsen declares Bengals have top 5 fanbase in NFLGiven that rather intuitive definition, it is impossible to see any merit to Daniels’ argument. A number is not a name. A number is not a picture. And a number is not a “physical, digital, or other depiction.” And if it is, then someone should alert Johnny Bench that he’s got a case (JB wore number 5 his entire career).Having said all th