Jayden Daniels took the NFL by storm in 2024. The Offensive Rookie of the Year led the Washington Commanders to a 12-5 record and a Wild Card berth.
His mother, Regina Jackson, meanwhile, has made headlines by having some helicopter parent tendencies since Daniels entered the NFL. Former quarterback Cam Newton recently defended Jackson.
Jayden Daniels’ Mom Says Media Attention Is ‘Nuts’, Cam Newton Defends Her
Daniels was a star during his five-year college career. After three years at Arizona State, he spent his final two seasons at LSU, culminating in being named the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner. He was named an All-American and SEC Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns while adding 1,134 rushing yards and 10 scores on the ground.
Daniels was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and started every game for the Commanders as a rookie. Washington got off to a 7-2 start and earned the NFC’s No. 6 seed in the playoffs behind Daniels’ 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He added six rushing scores and set the NFL rookie quarterback rushing record with 891 yards.
His stellar play continued for the first two weeks of the playoffs, where Washington defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions, respectively. The magic ran out when the Commanders faced the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, but Daniels established himself as one of the league’s best quarterbacks.
Daniels’ star level has risen significantly since being drafted, and his mother has been along for the ride. She’s recently been seen “third-wheeling” one of the quarterback’s dates, and sat between Daniels and USC basketball star JuJu Watkins earlier this year.
Jackson has been taking heat on social media, but she’s just looking out for her son.
Newton recently talked about Jackson and Daniels on his “4th & 1 with Cam Newton” show. The clip began with a video of Jackson saying, “I’m getting tagged on Twitter. I’m getting threatened. It’s like, nuts. It’s crazy. All because I’m a mom that protects my son?”
"Jayden Daniels’ mom is just protecting her son, doing what any parent would do.”@CameronNewton speaks out on how media often misrepresents loving parents, especially in the black community 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/n4kgPngFtJ
— 4th&1 with Cam Newton (@4thand1show)
Newton then said, “She’s not doing anything different than any other parent would want for their child. You have to set parameters. You have to set barricades up to say, ‘No, we not doing that. I know what they’re trying to do, but we’re not gonna do that.’ You would hope that child, that son, that daughter, that young man, young woman has resources in their life that can protect them.
“Instead of tipping our hat and appreciating and congratulating the parent, we look at it like, ‘Aw, man, she doing too much or he doing too much.’ I just hate that for the black community, where it’s not highlighted enough, where they do have good parents. It’s better to protect than have a situation happen that you could have prevented.
“It goes back to parenting. We all have different styles, but how it has been displayed in media hasn’t always been the glorified, prototypical way to parent from that situation. Ms. Regina, keep your head. Jayden has been doing unbelievable. You’re doing an unbelievable job, and we need more parents, not just black, to be heavily involved in their child’s lives and careers as well.”
Jackson has every right to watch over her son. Many parents do as their children enter the professional world.
Daniels’ career choice comes with a much higher attention level than most jobs, but he also doesn’t seem to have a problem with how involved she is. Eventually, she’ll have to stop showing up to his dates, but, for now, they both seem comfortable with the situation.
