Jayden Daniels is a win away from Arizona State history
Jayden Daniels is one win away from setting himself up to be the first former Arizona State quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
The rookie’s Washington Commanders visit the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST.
Sun Devil quarterbacks have played in Super Bowls before, even as punters in the case of Danny White and Bob Lee, but in 59 years no one has started behind center.
Daniels was not drafted out of Arizona State and made a bigger name for himself at LSU as the 2023 Heisman winner. His departure from Tempe via the transfer portal amid an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations under head coach Herm Edwards which involved Daniels’ mother still does not sit well with some in the fanbase.
Before his unceremonious exit, Daniels started for ASU for three seasons — including a four-game 2020 campaign impacted by COVID-19 — and put together a memorable freshman year with 2,943 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions in 2019. He ranks eighth in program history for both completions and passing yards despite playing only 29 games.
Daniels has a chance to become the first rookie to lead his team to the Super Bowl. The Commanders are underdogs on the road, as they were last week when Washington stunned the top-seed Detroit Lions.
Fellow Sun Devils have made it this far in the NFL playoffs, so let’s look back on that history:
Bob Lee and Danny White get Super Bowl snaps
(Jonathan Daniel/Allsport)
Like Daniels, Lee did not finish his college career at ASU, where he played for two years. He was eventually drafted out of Pacific.
During his 12-year NFL career, Lee played in two Super Bowls as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.
He punted the ball three times in a Super Bowl IV loss against the Kansas City Chiefs in his first opportunity playing for a championship.
In Super Bowl XI, Lee replaced Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to the Oakland Raiders after Tarkenton threw a pick-six. And it went well, as Lee completed 7 of 9 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.
White started 10 playoff games at quarterback during his 13 years with the Dallas Cowboys, but he never got over the hump.
Earlier in his career as a punter and backup quarterback to Roger Staubach, he played in two Super Bowls, completing 1 of 2 passes for five yards in a 27-10 win over Denver in Super Bowl XII and letting five punts fly in a 35-31 loss to Pittsburgh the following year.
When White took over as the starting quarterback, his Cowboys reached the NFC Championship Game in three straight seasons from 1981-83. The closest he got to another Super Bowl was a 28-27 loss to San Francisco in a game known for “The Catch.” Joe Montana hit Dwight Clark in the final minute to send San Francisco onward.
Paul Justin, Brock Osweiler and Bryce Perkins
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Paul Justin, Brock Osweiler and Bryce Perkins each won Super Bowls as backup quarterbacks who did not throw a pass in the ring-winning game.
Justin, who played at ASU from 1987-90 and for the Arizona Rattlers at one point, was Kurt Warner’s backup with the 1999 St. Louis Rams. The Greatest Show on Turf defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Osweiler started seven games for the 2015 Broncos leading up to the playoffs over an injured and struggling Peyton Manning, but Manning reclaimed his spot in Week 17.
Manning started all three of Denver’s playoff games, including a Super Bowl 50 win over the Carolina Panthers. Osweiler signed with the Houston Texans the following offseason, for whom he started two playoff games in 2016.
He played at ASU from 2009-11.
Perkins, a Chandler High School alum, did not throw a pass at ASU during his time in Tempe. He broke two vertebra in his neck in 2016 and eventually transferred to Virginia, where he played himself into the NFL.
Perkins was a backup to Matthew Stafford on the 2021 Rams, who defeated the Cincinnati Bengals at Super Bowl LVI.
What about Jake Plummer?
ASU legend Jake Plummer never played in a Super Bowl, but he got close. His 2005 Broncos eliminated Tom Brady’s New England Patriots to reach the AFC title game, but the Steelers ended their run and went on to capture the Lombardi Trophy.
