Who’s that? LSU purchases billboard ad for QB

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels makes Heisman push in Renton

By Benjamin Ray • December 4, 2023 3:47 pm
(Screenshot taken from X)
(Screenshot taken from X)

Why was there a Louisiana State University football player advertisement in Renton?

Well, that’s certainly a question people driving on Highway 181 and around the Southcenter area were asking.

LSU football social media announced on Nov. 25 that a billboard was up in Seattle with Jayden Daniels’ face and a slogan that reads “That Kid Jayden.” It is one of three that have been put up across the U.S., with one in Seattle and two in Michigan.

Daniels has certainly entered his name into the Heisman conversation with great play down the stretch, leading LSU to a 9-3 record.

But why “Seattle?” Daniels is from Southern California and played at Arizona State University for three seasons before transferring to Baton Rouge to play for the Bayou Bengals.

Seattle is in quotes because the billboard is hardly in Seattle, being in technically Renton and right on the edge of Tukwila.

Seattle does have a Heisman candidate of its own, which may shine some light on why LSU felt the need to put up a billboard. Michael Penix Jr. has been one of the stories for undefeated University of Washington and is leading the Huskies on one of the best seasons in school history.

Teams and schools have done odd and strange Heisman campaigns in the past. Just this year, Oregon football put a huge poster on the side of a New York City building, where the Heisman award is given out. But that still makes more sense than a sign 17 miles south of Husky Stadium and 2,858 miles away from where the trophy is handed out.

Perhaps the billboard is meant to sway people’s opinion away from Penix. But again, what sense does that make? Penix is beloved by Husky fans and has been the closest UW has been to the best player in college football award since Jake Browning, who finished sixth back in 2016.

The Heisman will be given out Dec. 9 in New York. Penix already passed another huge test with a win in a rematch against Oregon in the final PAC-12 championship in Las Vegas.