The Josh Innes Show - I Love A Good "What If"...

Episode Date: August 13, 2026

Here is a spectacular "What If"...what if Jayden Daniels never went to LSU? Who needed who more? Plus, I hate being in a situation where I have to bang on a guy that I legit like and root for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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So here's another thing about the stuff with Jane Daniels. And here's what sucks. Like here's the part about this Jane Daniels thing that blows. is that I like Jane Daniels. I think he's a, it was obviously a very good quarterback. He was fun to watch. Like they won some games with him. They didn't want a ton of games with him, but they won some.

They would have won less without him. All of these things are true. What I hate is that he and his people are involved in something so dumb that now we're forced to insult the guy based on how dumb all of this shit is. And I hate it because I don't want a shit on Jane Daniels. I like Jane Daniels. I think he's a weird but likable guy. I think his relationship with his mom's kind of fucked up and weird,

which I think anybody would agree with that, right? Like the kind of weird relationship he's got with his mom is strange. I don't know if the dude's ever gotten to hit some ass or not because his mom's probably stopping him from doing it. Like my man's living like an early 2000s rom-com. Whether life serves you an ace or an unexpected backhand, the high-protein yogurt, Oikos Pro, is there to feed your strength and help you turn every challenge into a smash.

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What was that one? Was there one where J.Lo was dating some guy in a movie and the mom was overbearing? Maybe Jane Fonda was in it? The hell was that Monster in Law? Was that the movie? Monster in Law. Ha! Yep.

Jane Fonda and Jalo and that one dude who's been in some movies whose name I don't know. That dude. Basically, my man lives a mom. monster-in-law situation, where is mom's fucking bad shit crazy? And that's that. Like, like, takes over, overbearing, that type of shit, trying to break people up. But whatever. I'm not going to knock her from a business standpoint, though, because she seems to do a pretty good fucking job. She kind of kills it for the guy. Like, she does well. But I don't know how this information got out. I don't know if they released it. If LSU leaked it to make him look

like shit, I don't know. But we got a guy that's out here like, hey, First things first, I'm pissed off that you didn't retire my number, and I'm pissed off you gave my number to someone else. That's number one. And number two, I want my Heisman back. Bro, this ain't the way. You look ridiculous. And see, now what has to happen is we as LSU fans,

we have to sit there and bang on the dude because of how ridiculous he looks. And we don't want to bang on the dude. He's one of three dudes that's won a Heisman trophy in the history of LSU. So why the fuck would we want to sit here and shit on the guy? We don't. But there's no way to wrap your brain around the absurdity of this. And there have been stories that have come out today that if you read the actual details of this, it's not really that Jaden Daniels is demanding that this happened with his number,

but it's about NIL and how since they lied to him or they didn't retire his number and they let somebody else wear it. He doesn't want them using his name image and likeness. Let's talk facts. Would you like to dig into some facts with me? Here's a fact. Nobody knew who Jaden Daniels was before he played at LSU. The reason the guy went to LSU is because LSU, I don't know how much money they gave him, but LSU is a star-making university.

They did it with Joe Burrow, who was a backup quarterback at Ohio State. This is just reality. LSU is a giant brand. LSU is incredible with NIL type of stuff. They're incredible with branding. They've got gigantic names involved in their branding. people like Shaq, people like Livy Dunn, who whatever, say what you want about her. She seems dumber than a box of rock.

But she's a huge marketable person. Paul Skeens. Go down the list of some of these people. Joe Burrow, LSU understands marketing. They do an incredible job with it. The brand is huge. What do you know about Arizona State? Oh, here's what we know about Arizona State.

Their coach has to beg for money. That's what we know about Arizona State. Kenny Dillingham has to go out. and beg boosters for money and say, hey, I know you can dig deep into those pockets, guys. I know there's more money. Arizona State is poverty relative to LSU when it comes to marketability when it comes to branding.

So the guy made a wise choice to come to LSU. But if you look at what he was before he came to LSU versus what he was after, he would not be where he got without LSU. And it sounds like you're being a dick, and it sounds like you're being bitter when you say these things, but it's reality. The reality in this is that if he doesn't go to LSU, he's probably not the top pick.

He probably doesn't win the Heisman. Remember, it was controversial for him to win the Heisman on a 9 and 3 team. It had to be sold. Let me see what the actual vote was. That was the 2023 Heisman vote. Let's see. Jaden Daniels won the Heisman that year, which rock on. Okay.

Jayden Daniels, I mean, he won it fairly convincingly, 503 first place to Michael Pinnock's 292. And I would have given it to him. To me, he was the Heisman trophy winner. I don't care that Michael Pinnock was on a team with a better record. You have to look at all things considered. And all things considered, old buddy was on a team that wasn't as good, but he was on a defense that was dreadful.

Fine. The dude can ball. The problem I'm having, where I'm having trouble reconciling this as LSU fanboy, here. My biggest issue is that we've taken a guy that we like that was extremely likable at LSU, a guy that we admire, a guy that brought the third Heisman trophy to LSU, all that shit. And now we're forced to have to shit on him and downplay what he did because of the absurdity of being upset over a fucking number and being petty and bitter and suckling off your mom's teet and all this other shit. That's the problem. That's where I'm annoyed. I'm annoyed because

as someone who roots for LSU, I have to sit here and dump on a guy that seemingly did nothing wrong to us as fans went out there and was on the grind and had the Alabama game, which was redonculus, all this shit. But now we have to sit here and make jokes about the dude

because he looks pathetic. And look, you ain't going to win this fight. If you're trying to go LSU versus Jaden Daniels, the people ain't going to side with Jain Daniels. Some will, most won't. And most aren't going to side with Jaden Daniels because most people are going to rep LSU, they're going to support LSU, they're going to go big for LSU or go home.

That's what we're going to do. So, like, I just, it's wild. And then we're talking about a number. I'm seeing people post these super serious posts about a number. Like, bro, it's a fucking number. Who invented numbers? Let's Google that today. Here's our question of the day.

Who invented numbers? What, the Greeks probably, did the Greeks invent numbers? Did the cavemen invent numbers? No single person invented numbers. They evolved over tens of thousands of years. Prehistoric humans used tally marks on bones and walls for early counting, while ancient civilizations like the Samarians and Egyptians and Maya independently created written number and placeholder systems. The modern base 10 system and zero were perfected by Indian mathematicians.

You didn't invent the fucking numbers, bro. It's a number. You know, a lot of people have worn number five. Some number fives I can recall at LSU from recent. in history. Skyler Green, responsible for one of the great catches in the history of the program beating Georgia back in 2003 that set them up to go to the National Championship, or Darius Guys, who turned out to be maybe a sexual predator and had all of his numbers stripped away from the record books at LSU. There have been other people that have worn number five. So just because

you happen to be the best player that's ever worn it, now we're sitting here talking about retiring numbers and it's so stupid. The idea that retiring numbers, it's all dumb. You don't own that fucking number. You're borrowing that number. The world owns the number. The Mayans and the Samarians and the Egyptians, they own the fucking number.

The prehistoric people that wrote tallies on the walls of the caves. They own the numbers. You don't. Think about the absurdity of retiring numbers, though. It really is an absurd concept. There's nothing absurd about putting your name in the rafters, having a ring of honor, right? Which is actually the best way to do it.

Like a Hall of Fame, a Hall of Fame doesn't retire your number. A Hall of Fame just put your face on a plaque. And your name is now etched in stone amongst the immortals. But we're supposed to retire numbers for a team? Like that's the play here? The Boston Celtics have like 400 retired numbers. What's in a number? Who cares about a number?

you're not the first person to wear it. And you're not the greatest player ever to wear the number five. Let's see, among all sports, what number was Ted, who wore it number five? Not Ted Williams. Albert Poole. So you mean to tell me that Jane Daniels wears number five and he's a better athlete and a better player all time in sport than Albert Pooholes? Well, you can eat shit, pal. That ain't true.

Now the Cardinals have like 10 retired numbers. I think retired numbers are stupid. I think that's dumb. I think the idea that you own that number because you happen to be the best player in that moment and time that wore it, I think is ill-conceived. I think that's a dumb idea. Again, there's a lot of shit about sports that's dumb. And that's why we love it. There's a lot of dumb shit surrounding sports that in the real world, you'd look at this and go, what the fuck are we doing?

But it's sports. So let's see. Teams with most retired numbers. Obviously, the Boston Celtics will be number one. one would imagine, right? Like the Celtics have retired 23 numbers. One fourth of the numbers between one and 100 have been retired by the Boston Celtics. I guess technically it was zero to 99.

But we're talking about the New York Yankees have 21 retired numbers. The Cardinals have 12 retired numbers. The Giants have 11 retired numbers. The Celtics have 23 retired numbers. The Montreal Canadiens have 15 retired numbers. retired numbers. The Bears in New York... The Chicago Bears have 14 retired numbers,

and for the most part, the Bears are a shit organization. For the most part, the Washington commanders have 10 retired numbers. Now, the Dallas Cowboys, they don't retire numbers. They have a ring of honor, which would be the way to do it.

Retiring numbers is so dumb. What's even dumber is being a guy even putting anything on paper that could get leaked, that could make it look like you're upset that some dude is wearing your number. I mean, that's... That's, that's, that's, that's pussy shit.

That, that's pussy shit. But what are you going to do? It's just so easy to make fun of this poor bastard now. You've hurt yourself. You've hurt yourself in the eyes of the fan base there. You just look like a clown, man. And then like the other weird thing is that like, lost in all of this, is that LSU had to promise this number to some recruit to get him to play at LSU.

while we're talking about absurd shit. LSU had to retire or to take a number that's not retired, but they promised they never give to anybody again. And they had to promise it to this guy to get him to come play. Think about we're in the NIL era, where dudes are getting paid to come play at schools,

where guys are getting big seven-figured deals to go play at a university. And it took getting this guy a number. But on the other hand, if you're Jane Daniels, and you're like, oh shit, LSU can get this fucking baller-ass player and all he wants to do is wear my number. What you should have done has been like, I don't give a shit, bro. No, what you should have done is no one should have ever known this was an issue because this shit should have never come out. Because it should have never come out of your mouth that it's an issue.

And you should have never put it on paper that it's an issue. But you did. That's how it should have gone. It's a very simple thing. You say, oh, whatever, bro. Rep it. Hey, here's what you say. You want to look like a stud?

You want to look like someone who does not give a fuck? Here's what you say. Good for him, bro. I hope he plays so well that they retire it as his number. He ain't ever going to live up to a dude that won the Heisman, some defensive back dude. He ain't going to win the Heisman.

He ain't going to be what Jane Daniels was at LSU. But of course, Jane Daniels doesn't just say shit like that. It doesn't make any sense, man. People are dumb, bro. Maybe I just struggled to understand shit. That might be a... But when you think about it, and I was asking a buddy of mine,

that's an LSU buddy of mine. Who needed who more? Like, who is more important to the other in the other success? So you look at LSU. LSU prior to, let's see, I mean, I'd say it's fair to say prior to Joe Burrow, LSU over the previous 20 years it had a revolving door of quarterbacks, some of whom were very good college quarterbacks.

Homeboy, Jamarcus Russell, was the number one overall pick in the draft. But then, you know, for the most part, it was, you know, a Matt Mock, who was a nice college quarterback, but it was never going to become anything other than a nice college quarterback. Matt Flynn, nice college quarterback. I think Matt Flynn at one point got a really big contract with Seattle. But Matt Flynn was never going to be a great all-time legendary quarterback, right? These were solid players. After Matt Flynn, there was a long list of dudes. Your Jordan Jeffers, your Jared Lees, your Danny Etlains, your Zach Mettenbergers. Go down your

list of guys who were some were just and some were like, okay, they're fine. Like Mettemberger was fine. That was probably the most high profile quarterback play they got in the Miles era, other than when they were in 07 when they went. I mean, the best quarterback play they probably got

was Zach Mettemberger. Like that's where LSU was that in the less Miles era, Zach Mettemberger was kind of the cream of the crop when it came to quarterback play. So, with all that said, LSU get so many five-star guys, LSU spends so much money.

LSU's got such a big brand that LSU could roll almost any quarterback out there and win eight or nine games every year in their sleep. Play four shitty teams, go 500 in the league, and you can win eight or nine games every year. Okay, cool, right? Jane Daniels comes, puts up a shit ton of numbers and all that, wins nine games.

Why do I bring up eight, nine games? This is what Jane Daniels won. So who needed who more? LSU can roll out Zach Mettenberger, Danny Etlein, Jordan Jefferson. They can go down the list of guys they've rolled out there that in some cases of won national championships. And in other cases are guys that, you know, won eight or nine games. Some 10 games, whatever, some 11 games. Like Jordan Jefferson won a lot of football games because Jordan Jefferson was part of that team that was just stacked.

LSU could win nine games without the help of Jane Daniels. If Jane Daniels would have been hanging out down at Arizona State, no one knows he exists, and he ain't winning nine games, and he ain't winning in Heisman trophies. So who needed who more? The obvious answer, because my point being is, yeah, LSU wouldn't have won nine games without Jane Daniels that year, but LSU most years is going to roll out any quarterback they want

and win eight or nine games. Jane Daniels would have remained on a milk cart and had he stayed at Arizona State or gone somewhere else. the brand of LSU, the matchups that LSU played. Everything came together for Jane Daniels. And you know, I love what ifs. What if Jaden Daniels never went to LSU. Do we believe that Jane Daniels?

And let's start with this, what if? What if Jane Daniels just stayed at Arizona State? That's our first what if, which is an unlikely one, but let's say he did. Doesn't win a lot of games. No one sees him play, West Coast team, playing at like 11 o'clock at night, playing against fucking Arizona. No one's watching. Nobody cares. No prime matchups, really. Just, you know, there.

Who else was in the Pack 10, Pack 12 at the time? I'm playing, I don't know. You're playing Oregon State in the middle of the night. Stanford in the middle of the night. No one's watching. Nobody cares. You come to LSU, you're playing Bama. You're playing Ole Miss in primetime. You're playing Auburn.

You're playing Florida State. You're playing these big matchups. You're in prime time. You're at a time when people are actually watching it, and it's not midnight being called by random slap dicks on the Pack 12 Network. You're in the big matchups. And you're throwing a five-star guy after five-star guy after five-star guy. So that would be my advice to Jane Daniels when you're sitting here in some sort of battle with LSU

and this petty battle with LSU. You're a super talented guy. And people in Baton Rouge and people who are fans of LSU are proud of what you accomplished at LSU. Make no mistake about that. but you also have to think about where you were before LSU and what LSU did for you while you're involved in this petty battle about all this stuff and you're upset that somebody's wearing your jersey number. It's all about respect and everything else.

Just remember kind of a who made who type of thing. LSU prior to Jane Daniels had won how many national championships? Three national championships in the 2000s prior to Jane Daniels. How many of the one with Jane Daniels? Zero. You know how many nine-win seasons they have with Jane Daniels or without Jane Daniels? A good number. So just remember that.

And what sucks is that now we're forced if you're an LSU fan into shitting on this guy because he seems like a dope at this point. And you don't want to have to do that, but that's the reality of the situation. Hey, y'all's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair.

With Wayfair, there's no what-if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.ca. Every style every home.