Nowadays, the crowd in Washington is filled with Jayden Daniels’ number 5 jerseys, especially after he shocked the NFL world with his skills. But did you know there is a secret Eagles connection behind the QB’s jersey number?
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Growing up in a football-obsessed family, Daniels’ father handed him the ball early in his life. He started with flag football and later graduated to tackle football. Well, the growing passion for the tackle sport is why, since his high school days, the QB had already chosen a number 5 jersey.
But the No. 5 has a backstory. In an old interview from his Arizona days, Daniels revealed that he was quite a fan of Donovan McNabb, a former Eagles quarterback who also wore the same number. Since then, Daniels has had no interest in any other numbers.
“When I was younger, my favorite quarterback was Donovan McNabb, and I had his Philadelphia Eagles jersey. He wore number five, and that is why I picked that jersey number.”
Six-time Pro Bowl quarterback McNabb was at the peak of his career when Daniels started playing football as a young teenager in California and was a major reason behind his decision to become a quarterback. After high school, Daniels had offers from 25 top colleges but picked Arizona where he became the starting QB in his first year.
He took the Sun Devils to the 2019 Sun Bowl with 17 touchdowns for 2943 yards to break the program’s freshman scoring record. After COVID-19 disrupted the 2020 season, he returned the following year to lead the team to the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl, recording 10 TDs, 2,381 passing yards, and 710 rushing yards.
Daniels played three seasons with the team before transferring to LSU, where he won the Heisman Trophy.
Clearly, a young Daniels won many accolades as a quarterback. But if it was up to his father, he would have a very different career trajectory.
Daniels’ father didn’t want him to play quarterback
The Commanders star revealed in the interview that his father, Jay Daniels, was a cornerback for the Iowa State and Washington college football teams. This is likely why his dad encouraged him to play defense, believing that the young player could excel in the cornerback position.
However, Daniels chose the offensive role because a “quarterback is someone who does everything” and is involved in every single play. He added that his father was skeptical at first but supported him, nonetheless. His father later became an assistant coach when he played for the Cajon High School team.
The young QB had a phenomenal showing since his high school days and has been constantly evolving to rise to whatever challenge came his way. Given his incredible performances against the Bengals this week and the Giants the week before, he is arguably inching closer to the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
