Jayden Daniels' high school honors Heisman Trophy winning season
LSU’s dynamic dual threat of a quarterback, Jayden Daniels, had a historic season this year for the Tigers. He danced around defenders, putting together one of the most electrifying highlight tapes in NCAA history.
Daniels brought home the Heisman Trophy and, in the process, cemented his place among the all-time greats. On Saturday afternoon, his old high school, Cajon High School (San Bernardino, California) decided to honor his Heisman Trophy-winning season by presenting him with a special jacket. They also named their stadium after him.
In the ceremony, Daniels took a quick minute to say a few words of appreciation for the honor. He let everyone know how proud he was to be from San Bernadino.
San Bernardino High alumnus and current Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison was also on the stage as part of the ceremony.
Daniels was one of the nation’s most coveted recruits coming out of Cajon High School, shattering several school and state records in the process. He threw for a CIF-Southern Section record 14,007 yards and 170 touchdowns during a historic four-year career there. Daniels produced back-to-back seasons of more than 6,000 all-purpose yards his junior and senior seasons (12,487 yards total).
He was a finalist for the Elite 11 competition and Daniels was also named an Under Armour All-American. In the 2019 cycle, he was rated as the No. 3 quarterback in the nation and the No. 50 overall prospect in America, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.
More on Jayden Daniels’ Heisman Trophy winning season
On Dec. 9, Jayden Daniels became the second LSU quarterback in the past four years to win the Heisman Trophy. Since then, 22 days have passed. Daniels claimed the three-week period has been a whirlwind.
“It’s been a blessing but it also been crazy,” Daniels said in a sideline interview during LSU’s matchup against Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl. “Everybody is trying to talk to me and stuff like that. People were telling me my life would change after winning that trophy. I’m just blessed to be a part of a fraternity like that.”
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Daniels earned it. The fifth-year senior led the nation in total offense, averaging 412.2 yards per game — which was 64 more than the second-highest average. He threw for 3,812 yards, rushed for 1,134 and had 50 total touchdowns — 40 passing and 10 rushing. That made him the first quarterback to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 since Jalen Hurts did so.
While the award comes with its fair share of chaos, it always gave Daniels opportunities to meet other athletes he looks up to.
“The coolest thing I’ve done was just being able to meet different people that I never thought I’d meet before, like Ja Morant. I was able to meet Jerry Rice, just people that I never thought I’d be able to meet,” Daniels said.
At this rate, Daniels will be a player others are excited to meet soon. ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Daniels as the No. 4 overall player and the No. 3 quarterback in his NFL Big Board. Due to his high draft stock, Daniels opted not to play in LSU’ bowl game. Nonetheless, the California native will always appreciate what LSU did for him.
“It means a lot,” Daniels said. “It’s really changed the trajectory of my life and others too. To be able to come here and meet some of my closest friends and just really be bless — God put me in a position like this.”
On3’s Grant Grubbs also contributed to this article.