Hogs Haven
Washington Post (paywall)
In April, Jayden Daniels traveled to Paris on a promotional trip arranged by the NFL and European sporting empire Paris Saint-Germain. He attended a soccer game at Parc des Princes — “Dope,” Daniels said — and chucked a football in the stands. He met and filmed a short video with Brazilian star Marquinhos. He toured PSG’s practice campus. And then, in an increasingly treasured occurrence, Daniels enjoyed time to himself.
Daniels sampled croissants, saw the Eiffel Tower and perused high-end fashion shops. As he strolled through Paris’s streets, a feeling of relief washed slowly over him. At last, in a city unmoved by the spectacle of American football, almost nobody recognized him.
“I was just enjoying walking around,” Daniels said, “and being a normal human being for once.”
In February, Daniels sat courtside with old friends at a USC-UCLA women’s basketball game. The showdown drew several other boldface names: comedian Kevin Hart, actress Sanaa Lathan, WNBA star Kelsey Plum and others.
“At halftime, when everybody gets up, the whole crowd came to Jayden,” said Rome Weber, Daniels’s friend since their early childhood in San Bernardino, California. “And there’s so many celebrities. Everybody wanted to say something to Jayden. That’s when I realized this is a different stage he just reached.”
Daniels is grateful to fans and accepts fame as a by-product of his profession. He remembers what his father, Javon, would tell him about playing quarterback: “To whom much is given, much is required.” But he does not enjoy the recognition. There are places he can no longer go without an uproar. Attention makes him uncomfortable. He confronts it with resolve not to let it change him personally or professionally.
Over the past year, Daniels turned down more opportunities than he accepted. His team filters most of them; he turned down several television show appearances over the offseason. He filmed a commercial for NFL Flag. He has a few corporate sponsorships coming out soon that he cannot talk about yet.
He remains selective. He has discovered a lesson it takes some athletes years to realize: Agreeing to a 30-second commercial means sacrificing at least a full day of time, and Daniels is fiercely protective of his.
After Washington’s organized team activities concluded in June, he instructed his team to set aside one week. In those seven days, he would tend to all his sponsorship obligations — commercial shoots, meetings, prospective deals. Then he would be finished, “so I had the rest of the summer to focus on working out, getting better for the season and just enjoying my summer, too,” Daniels said.
As a rookie, Daniels became known among teammates for his obsessive early arrival. Coaches who got to work at 6 a.m. would sometimes see Daniels walking off the practice field. Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said Daniels has come to the facility even earlier this year. “If anything, I’ve...
