Jayden Daniels is having an incredible season so far. He’s only the third rookie ever to surpass 3,000 passing yards and 600 rushing yards, while also leading the Commanders to an NFC title game after 33 years. He was even voted Offensive Rookie of the Year by NFL executives. The general public has naturally jumped on the Daniels hype train, as seen in his record-breaking jersey sales across all sports.
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That’s right. Move over Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James, and Shohei Ohtani. According to Fanatics, Daniels had the top-selling jersey during the season in all sports. And it’s carried into the playoffs, if not skyrocketed even more.
News: Jayden Daniels had the top-selling jersey on Fanatics this season & during the playoffs of ALL sports
In addition, the Commanders are the league’s top-selling team during the playoffs.
(via:@washingtonpost) pic.twitter.com/b7ffENM6Ss
— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) January 26, 2025
In addition, the Commanders have sold the most jerseys overall since entering the post-season. Their sales have risen by 463 percent since the start of last year, which is remarkable. And since they clinched a playoff spot, sales have surged by a staggering 4,129 percent. An incredible turnaround for a team that typically struggles to crack the top 15 in such lists.
The Daniels wave is taking over
It’s no wonder that Daniels leads the league in jersey sales. His dynamic style of play is fun to watch. The Commanders are also a team that’s been searching for a savior at quarterback for quite some time. It seems like they found the guy. After missing out on Caleb Williams, Washington originally thought they were settling for Daniels. But today it’s clear that they made the better pick.
As previously mentioned, 3000 passing yards and 600 rushing yards in a rookie season has only ever been done by Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III, and now Daniels. He became the first QB in NFL history to record 85% completions in back-to-back games. Daniels also threw the most TD passes in the fourth quarter or overtime ever by a rookie with 12.
He is a clutch player as well. His five TD passes in the final 30 seconds of a game are two more than any QB has had since 1970. He’s also just the fifth rookie QB to ever lead back-to-back double-digit comeback wins, which he did so in Weeks 16 & 17. He’s undoubtedly an incredible player who could be the new face of the league someday.
Nevertheless, it’s still surprising to see a rookie QB leading all of sports in jersey sales. He’s surpassing some established stars like LeBron James and Steph Curry. He’s also leading some international stars like Ohtani and Juan Soto. It undoubtedly shows how popular the rookie QB has become. But it also shows just how popular the NFL is compared to the other major sports.
Players like Curry and LeBron, who are well past their primes, will still lead in jersey sales yearly for the NBA. Michael Jordan still sneaks into the top 10 of that list too. In the MLB, it usually sways towards Dodgers and Yankees. Derek Jeter still makes the top 10 list in that sport. But in the NFL it’s all current players only.
NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, has done a great job at making sure his sport is the top dog. The ratings show it, and now the jersey sales add to that argument.
